Review Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

The story of Christopher Reeve is an astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, and his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman set the benchmark for the superhero cinematic universes that dominate cinema today. Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films and played dozens of other roles that displayed his talent and range as an actor, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. After becoming a quadriplegic, he became a charismatic leader and activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate for disability rights and care – all while continuing his career in cinema in front of and behind the camera and dedicating himself to his beloved family. From the directors of McQueen, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, this film includes never-before-seen intimate home movies and an extraordinary trove of personal archive material, as well as the first extended interviews ever filmed with Reeve’s three children about their father, and interviews with the A-list Hollywood actors who were Reeve’s colleagues and friends. The film is a moving and vivid cinematic telling of Reeve’s remarkable story.

What We Thought:

Over the past few years I’ve personally gone through some pretty crazy health issues. Since then I’ve struggled to watch movies/shows with people/characters dealing with medical issues. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to watch a documentary on Christopher Reeve, a man who went from playing the Man of Steel to a quadriplegic after a horse-riding accident. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story damn near broke me. It’s brutally honest about Reeve’s highs and lows in his career, as a family man and as an activist. If his story doesn’t make you cry, his friendship with the late Robin Williams will make you ball your eyes out.

Those expecting a documentary on Reeve being cast as Clark Kent/Superman and playing the character in four movies might be disappointed. There are plenty of scenes about his portrayal and how he didn’t seem to enjoy working with Marlon Brando all that much, but the documentary is more about Reeve being a super man not Superman. Many Hollywood legends are in the film talking about Chris whether it’s Jeff Daniels who was a friend during their days as unknown theater actors to others like Glenn Close, Susan Sarandon and Whoopi Goldberg. But most of their stories are more personal, more about the man he was off-screen and the man he became after his accident.

Then there’s Robin Williams. There are archive photos of the pair and many, many stories. Their friendship went back decades and Robin was one of the first to step up after Reeve became a quadriplegic. Robin and his wife paid for a van to make it easier on the Reeve family to get him and his wheelchair around. Hearing the stories of their friendship and how they were there for each other is enough to make a grown man cry.

But if that’s not enough to emotionally wreck you, the interviews with his now adult children and home videos of their time with their dad before and after the accident should destroy you. Reeve had a son and daughter with a woman he met on set, but they never married despite being together for years. He had a hard childhood with a father that shaped his thoughts on marriage. He would eventually marry after that break up and had a son with his wife who was by his side every day until his eventual death. The three kids are honest about their relationships with their father, mother and step-mother. All three seem like genuinely decent people who follow their father’s footsteps in bringing good to the world. The family footage from the 1980s and 1990s of Christopher Reeve being in top physical shape playing with his kids to then being in a wheelchair yet still trying to do activities with his youngest son will melt you.

I never had the opportunity to meet Christopher Reeve, but he seemed like a solid dude. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story shows how he went from actor to an activist for spinal cord injuries and the disabled. Although I did learn that some disabled groups weren’t fond of him for trying to find cures because they took it as him saying there was something wrong with them that needed to be cured. He wanted to walk again and wanted to help those who wanted to as well. How you can get angry over that is beyond me. The documentary is rather straight forward with one main purpose, telling his story, but I’m 100% ok with how it was made. It crushed me and I was glad I was sitting in a dark theater alone in the back. It’s an intimate look at a man who believed in hope and in today’s world filled with hopelessness, we need more super men.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!