RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / So Much So Fast
So Much So Fast

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

So Much So Fast (2006)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
96 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:22

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8/10

Consensus: A poignant documentary about terminal illness that's as moving as it is honest.

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Synopsis: SO MUCH SO FAST unfolds like a nonfiction novel. Stephen Heywood finds out he has ALS. His brother Jamie becomes obsessed with finding a cure. The woman who's falling in love with Stephen has a... SO MUCH SO FAST unfolds like a nonfiction novel. Stephen Heywood finds out he has ALS. His brother Jamie becomes obsessed with finding a cure. The woman who's falling in love with Stephen has a decision to make. A black-humored cliffhanger of romance, guerrilla science and the redefinition of time. When asked what he would do differently in the five years since his ALS diagnosis, Stephen Heywood replied, "Have more sex on film." What would you do if you were 29 and found you may only have a few years to live? So Much So Fast is about the remarkable events set in motion when Stephen Heywood discovered he had the paralyzing neural disorder ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Made over 5 years, So Much So Fast tracks one family's ferocious response to an orphan disease: the kind of disease drug companies ignore because not there's not enough profit in curing it. In reaction, and with no medical background, Stephen's brother Jamie creates a guerilla-science research group and in two years builds it from three people in a basement to a multi-million dollar ALS mouse facility, the largest anywhere. Finding a drug in time becomes Jamie's all-consuming obsession. Stephen's position is you can't live every day like it's your last (since you'd be hung over every morning). Instead, he gets married, has a son and rebuilds two houses. He and his wife Wendy's laser-like observations of the world and their predicament go to the heart of the fragility of being alive. Filmmakers Ascher and Jordan were inducted into the stunning world of ALS when Jeanne's mother, who is featured in their film Troublesome Creek, came down with the disease. Like the Jordan family of Troublesome Creek, the Heywoods are smart, acerbic and capable of upending the cliches of their situation with black humor and real insight. So Much So Fast makes tangible the bonds between parents and children, husbands and wives, and siblings who are also best friends. We watch as some of these bonds withstand unimaginable pressure and others break. Audiences get an inside view of scientific discovery and what happens when a group of researchers goes up against the scientific establishment. In So Much So Fast, there's a lot going on under the surface. It's about the biggest questions of life. The answers are never what you'd expect. --© Official Site [More]

Director: Steve Ascher, Jeanne Jordan

Director: Steve Ascher, Jeanne Jordan
Studio: Balcony Releasing

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for So Much So Fast

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Should inspire many who suffer from life-threatening health problems. It is also quite interesting on a purely dramatic level.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Eric Monder
Eric Monder
Film Journal International

A very compelling human story.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
12/08/06
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Ascher and Jordan bring [their] personal knowledge to bear on the Heywoods' plight, sometimes asking wistfully whether it is ultimately any different from any other family's trouble.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
12/08/06
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

It is harrowing, heartbreaking, cheering, and unforgettable.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/27/06
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

A humbling and inspiring chronicle of one man's tireless efforts to save the life of his terminally ill younger brother.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
10/14/06
Timothy Knight
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

So Much So Fast tries hard to imbue Stephen's story with a life-is-fleeting wonder. In fact, it tries too hard.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
10/13/06
Noel Murray
Noel Murray
AV Club

It retains an upbeat air of hope, and even humor, as two brave men battle fate.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
10/13/06
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post

not nearly the car crash it could be

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/12/06
Chris Cabin
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

Affecting, slightly overextended film.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
10/12/06
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday

Jamie's desperation, however, is understandable, as is his anger at the pharmaceutical establishment that continues to fail ALS sufferers.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
10/11/06
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

This vigorous documentary offers a five-year record of 29-year-old Stephen Heywoods battle with A.L.S., or Lou Gehrigs disease.

comment Comment
10/11/06
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Condensing years of filming down to 87 minutes makes every cut register with a pang of mortality: The temporal ellipses swipe away precious weeks and months in a flicker.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
10/10/06
Jim Ridley
Jim Ridley
Village Voice

All about life and death and coping with a tragically brief span between the two for one unlucky but determined soul.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
10/07/06
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

A glowing testament to family bonds and the will to survive. Only those with stone hearts will be unmoved by this remarkable production.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
10/06/06
Phil Hall
Phil Hall
Film Threat

An inspiring look at an idea the medical establishment doesn't like grass roots pharmaceutical research.

Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment Comment
10/06/06
Ron Wilkinson
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics

So Much So Fast... elegantly presents both a critique and a celebration of American optimism.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
10/04/06
Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Entertainment Weekly

This nonfiction film, 5 years in the making,compels attention from its surprisingly spirited victim of a dread disease.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
09/27/06
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

The film is relentlessly sad, though at its core exists a nugget of hope that is as extraordinary as every single person in this amazing story.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
09/14/06
Tim Cogshell
Tim Cogshell
Boxoffice Magazine

Ascher and Jordan's poignant and often humorous portrait covers two perspectives of of a tragic equation.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
08/22/06
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine

There's absolutely no denying the overall effectiveness of So Much So Fast.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
05/04/06
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for So Much So Fast

October 12, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Man of the Year" A Weak Candidate, But At Least It Was Screened For Critics
This week at the movies, we've got comedians in the White House ("Man of the Year," starring Robin Williams), continued creepy curses in Tokyo ("The Grudge 2,... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
86% 86% A Christmas Tale
60% 60% Paper Heart

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
22
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
22
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
42
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
  • Summit Ponders Twilight Finale Source: Variety
162
  • First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Source: USA Today
56
  • Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Possibilities Source: Superhero Hype
14
  • Todd Phillips Talks The Hangover 2 Source: Entertainment Weekly
18
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
78
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
53
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
50
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Vampires and Football Break Thanksgiving Records
43
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
40
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
40
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
36
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
27
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Terminator Salvation and a Smithsonian Battle
22
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • So Much So Fast at Rotten Tomatoes
  • So Much So Fast at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.