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In 1978, Superman was the man who could fly. But in real life, the man behind him had lost the ability to walk. On the heels of actor Christopher Reeve’s near-fatal accident, he reinvented himself into one of the most influential activists of his generation. This is his incredible real-life story.
The documentary trailer details the rise of the young actor Christopher Reeve, and his ascent to fame playing Superman in the critically acclaimed 1978 movie. Behind the scenes, the charismatic actor maintained an active lifestyle and varied career, looking to shape himself into one of Hollywood’s new leading men.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024) – source: Warner Bros.
Then in 1995, a horse-riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. After debating euthanasia, the documentary shows his reinvention in the quest for disability rights, the support of his family in continuing his career, and his sweet relationship with fellow stars like Robin Williams and the public who never stopped believing in him.
Documentaries about real-life disability stories are a slippery slope. Not only do you risk the subject’s story being mishandled, you also have to contend with the fact all disability situations are different. In telling a redemption story, you cause the general public to project that story onto the entire community, which could cause unintended ramifications.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story avoids this common pitfall due to Reeve’s real-life hero status with the public. This is a man who an entire generation idolized, and he lived up to the character he played despite only being a man.
Following his accident, Reeve found himself able to impact the world in a different but equally impactful way. And by explicitly drawing comparisons to Reeve’s onscreen legacy, the film becomes more than a sappy tale about overcoming disability, and instead about how one man’s heart overcame all odds and continued to live up to the ideal of Superman.
Directed by Ian Bonhote & Peter Ettedgui, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is scheduled to release theatrically in the US on September 21, 2024.
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