I did a straw poll around the office last week to see who knew the name Christopher Reeve.  As expected, the results were largely divided based on age.  Older folk knew him as the actor who played Superman in the four movies of the 1970s and 1980s, and whose life was forever changed after a horse-riding accident rendered him a quadriplegic in 1995.  Younger folk were unfamiliar given he passed away in 2004 and the role of Superman has been taken on by a fresh generation of actors in several movies and television shows.

Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, nominated at the BAFTAs several years ago for their excellent documentary McQueen, return to the genre and have crafted an attention-grabbing film about Christopher Reeve.  It’s never easy encapsulating one’s life inside of two hours but they’ve done a terrific job using a mix of interviews and archival footage.  Reeve’s own thoughts are also on display as the filmmakers have pulled from his own audio books, recorded prior to his death, and made him the quasi-narrator of his own tale.

Told in a non-linear way, the movie spans a 30-year period.  We go back to the 1970s and learn that because of a troubled upbringing, Reeve used acting as a means of escaping his family and pretending to be someone else.  He started out on stage – working alongside the likes of Katharine Hepburn and Jeff Daniels, and becoming life-long friends with Robin Williams.  He would soon become one of the most famous people on Earth when, despite being cast a relative unknown, Superman became the highest grossing release of 1978.  The film drops interesting titbits of information regarding the production of the four Superman flicks.

There’s also a heap of material between 1995 and 2004 as we see Reeve deal with the accident, both physically and mentally, and try to find a new path for himself in the world.  Working closely with Reeve’s children, Bonhôte and Ettedgui had access to old home movie footage which audiences can now see for the first time.  It’s a “warts and all” look – highlighting the strain it took on the broader family, while also showing Reeve’s strength and bravery.  He was a likeable guy and, as alluded to in the film’s title, he was as much as “superman” behind the screen as he was on it.  Current day interviews with Glenn Close, Susan Sarandon, and Whoopi Goldberg add further insight into the person he was.

Reeve’s legacy continues today as his children maintain a charitable foundation raising money for research into stem cells and spinal cord injuries.  While his life was tragically cut short, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story reminds us that the way we deal with misfortune, not the misfortune itself, is what ultimately defines us.