Which comes first: playing chicken, or the scrambled eggs?

Before last weekend, I'd never been in the same room (or elevator) with Harrison Ford, so I'd never experienced the full weight of his legendary persona. Having now "heard" the hush that falls over a room when he enters and "seen" the robotic motionlessness of ordinarily hyperactive journalists when "casually" standing in his presence, I get it. Harrison Ford is kind of like Mount Rainier, Denali, or Fuji. He creates his own weather patterns.

Extraordinary Measures kind of has that feel to it, too: a movie that would have been quite a different beast had it been produced by—and tailored to fit—someone else.

At a press conference in Los Angeles last weekend, Ford sat down with co-star Brendan Fraser, director Tom Vaughan, and writer Robert Jacobs to field questions about the film and its genesis. Ford, who is notoriously less than loquacious, was in good form: getting to the point, sparring gently with Fraser throughout, and not being too gruff in response to dense questions from journalists intent on pulling a once-in-lifetime quote from the legendary actor.

Given the subject matter of the film—Pompe, a debilitating degenerative disease that generally kills its victims by the time they reach seven years of age, and the race to find a treatment for the disease—the primary thrust of the press had to do with the filmmakers' passion about the disease. Pretty natural, given the nation's present interest in health care.

In the film, pharma exec John Crowley abandons his lucrative career to start up a new company so that it can develop a cure for Pompe, which two of his children have contracted. His passion is his children, and the character is based on the real John Crowley, who did just so in real life.

The cinematic Crowley enlists the help of fictional composite scientist Robert Stonehill (Ford), whose motivation is theoretical science. He really can't be bothered with the intricacies of big business, dying children, and other such details. He's got his own corner of the world to invest in, and he's sticking to it... while not being too gruff in response to dense questions from investors.

Do you see where this is going?

I'm not sure whether Ford was still in character during the press conference, or whether Dr. Stonehill simply reflects Ford's real-life traits; but I have a good guess.

Given that the project was hand-picked by Ford with help from his producing partner Michael Shamberg, and that writer Jacobs confirms that the project "had Harrison involved before I even wrote a word," it's no surprise that Ford saw Extraordinary Measures as "a chance to build an interesting part for myself."

Ford added, "We were looking for movies I could be in"—projects along the lines of the socially-centered World Trade Center and Erin Brockovich.

And yet, like Dr. Stonehill—"John's job is to develop further therapies... I have other concerns"—Ford wasn't looking for a movie that would provide a "soapbox" about suffering and the pharmaceuticals industry. "I do what I can in my world," says Harrison Ford the producer, firmly set against "creating a polemic, a bully pulpit." Instead, when it comes to attitudes about big business, science, medicine, dying children, and the entrepreneurial spirit, he hopes that Extraordinary Measures will "let the audience decide for themselves."

I have to say that the film does indeed stick to telling the story without getting preachy.

Will that work so well for audiences? We shall see when the film is released next weekend. Certainly, taking a stand has worked well enough for The Blind Side. I have a feeling, though, that by dodging obvious issues related to the current debate on health care reform, Extraordinary Measures might not wind up being all it is cracked up to be.