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MOVIES / ON DVD / SO MUCH SO FAST
So Much So Fast

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So Much So Fast (2006)

96%
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96 %
Reviews Counted: 23 Fresh: 22  Rotten:1 Average Rating: 8/10
 
Consensus: A documentary that's as moving as it is honest. A poignant documentary about terminal illness that's as moving as it is honest. more
 
Runtime: 87 mins
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 decision to make. A black-humored cliffhanger of romance, guerrilla science and the redefinition of... [More]
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 [Less]

Genre: Education/General Interest

Director: Steve Ascher, Jeanne Jordan

DVD Info

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[DVD Details]

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Should inspire many who suffer from life-threatening health problems. It is also quite interesting on a purely dramatic level.

Full Review | Comment
03/01/07 03:36 AM
Eric Monder
Film Journal International
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A very compelling human story.

Full Review | Comment
12/08/06 03:33 PM
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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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 | Comment
12/08/06 01:09 PM
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
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It is harrowing, heartbreaking, cheering, and unforgettable.

Full Review | Comment
10/27/06 04:07 PM
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
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A humbling and inspiring chronicle of one man's tireless efforts to save the life of his terminally ill younger brother.

Full Review | Comment
10/14/06 03:40 AM
Timothy Knight
Reel.com
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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 | Comment
10/13/06 01:13 PM
Noel Murray
Onion AV Club
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It retains an upbeat air of hope, and even humor, as two brave men battle fate.

Full Review | Comment
10/13/06 12:17 PM
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
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not nearly the car crash it could be

Full Review | Comment
10/12/06 08:37 PM
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com
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Affecting, slightly overextended film.

Full Review | Comment
10/12/06 06:21 PM
Jan Stuart
Newsday
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Jamie's desperation, however, is understandable, as is his anger at the pharmaceutical establishment that continues to fail ALS sufferers.

Full Review | Comment
10/11/06 05:53 PM
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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This vigorous documentary offers a five-year record of 29-year-old Stephen Heywoods battle with A.L.S., or Lou Gehrigs disease.

| Comment
10/11/06 12:03 PM
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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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 | Comment
10/10/06 01:24 PM
Jim Ridley
Village Voice
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All about life and death and coping with a tragically brief span between the two for one unlucky but determined soul.

Full Review | Comment
10/07/06 04:33 PM
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals
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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 | Comment
10/06/06 06:15 AM
Phil Hall
Film Threat
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An inspiring look at an idea the medical establishment doesn't like grass roots pharmaceutical research.

Full Review | Comment
10/06/06 04:32 AM
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics
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So Much So Fast... elegantly presents both a critique and a celebration of American optimism.

Full Review | Comment
10/04/06 02:37 PM
Scott Brown
Entertainment Weekly
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This nonfiction film, 5 years in the making,compels attention from its surprisingly spirited victim of a dread disease.

Full Review | Comment
09/27/06 06:53 PM
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve
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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 | Comment
09/14/06 03:50 PM
Tim Cogshell
Boxoffice Magazine
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Ascher and Jordan's poignant and often humorous portrait covers two perspectives of of a tragic equation.

Full Review | Comment
08/22/06 09:42 PM
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
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There's absolutely no denying the overall effectiveness of So Much So Fast.

Full Review | Comment
05/04/06 03:16 AM
David Nusair
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