It's no fun to watch your heroes grow old. Not far removed from life as a box office hero, Harrison Ford is 67 and showing it. Age isn't the problem. Clint Eastwood is 79, and he can still pull in an audience. Recent clunkers like "Hollywood Homicide" and "Firewall" are the main culprits. Still, Ford should have chosen his latest project more carefully. "Extraordinary Measures" is a made-for-TV movie that somehow snaked its way up the feature film pipeline.

In suburban Portland, Ore., John Crowley (Brendan Fraser, "Crash") lives an idyllic existence with his wife Aileen (Keri Russell, "Waitress") and three children. The only problem is that the youngest two, 8-year-old Megan (Meredith Droeger, in her first feature film) and 6-year-old Patrick (Diego Velazquez, likewise) suffer from Pompe disease, a progressive neuromuscular disorder. John spends hours researching the condition, hoping to locate someone who can find a cure. As a mid-level executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb, he knows how the prescription drug industry operates.

Fed up with leaving messages, John visits the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to track down the leader in Pompe research, Dr. Robert Stonehill (Ford). The scientist is brilliant, but in serious need of funding. Together, they launch a plan to raise millions of dollars in capital to push forward Stonehill's theory before Pompe claims the lives of Megan and Patrick.

It's easy to blame the director. Tom Vaughan's previous effort was the Ashton Kutcher/Cameron Diaz debacle "What Happens in Vegas." But the script is just too sappy. Producers (including Ford) could have aimed for a more stark adaptation of Geeta Anand's book "The Cure." Although that may have worked cinematically, it could have turned a film about hope into a dark contemplation on childhood mortality.

Picking apart "Extraordinary Measures" is like dissecting a middle school play; it's too well intentioned and easy to criticize. But this is a movie review, so the gloves must come off. One misstep the film takes is forcing drama where it shouldn't exist. When John flies to Lincoln, he doesn't tell Aileen, which of course leads to an argument upon his return. Vaughan is also guilty of emphasizing clichés. The requisite late nights poring over research and long tearful hugs grow tiresome. He also lets the more melodramatic scenes drag on.

Poor casting doesn't help. The choice to throw Brendan Fraser in the lead is clearly a sign that the studio needed a name to compensate for the syrupy script. What a poor decision. The actor who once played George of the Jungle proved his big league chops in "Gods and Monsters" and "The Quiet American." Here, he is simply over his head. The best tests for a dramatic actor are scenes in which the character breaks down. When it really counts, Fraser hams it up like a starry-eyed amateur auditioning for community theater. Producers should have a cast a less famous actor, thus giving Ford undisputed top billing. The marketing would have been easy; this is the Harrison Ford comeback film.

Ford makes the movie watchable. He is essentially a supporting player, and you find yourself wishing for his presence during scenes that focus on the Crowley family. Even as a scientist, he maintains that famous swagger. Sure, he spends his nights cooped up in a lab, but he also blasts The Grateful Dead and drives an old pickup truck to work. There is no shortage of vintage fits of rage, either. He still knows how to deliver point-and-shout-zingers like "Nobody's going to tell me how to run my lab!"

Russell does a fine job as well, hinting she is ready to move past her "Felicity" persona. "Waitress" earned her some positive attention. As Aileen, she makes a bid for mainstream success. Even on the WB, Russell exhibited a maturity far beyond her years when compared to other TV teen queens like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Maybe playing mothers is her destiny as an actress.

On a side note, Dee Wallace aka the mom from "E.T." plays a waitress at the bar where John and Dr. Stonehill first meet. She cannot be onscreen for more than 30 seconds. It's as if someone working on the set cashed in a favor.

No matter how much heart it contains, a made-for-TV movie is still a made-for-TV movie. Do the right thing — wait until "Extraordinary Measures" comes out on DVD and watch it with your children. The tagline is "Don't hope for a miracle. Make one." A more accurate choice would be "It is what it is."

Extraordinary measures

Rated PG. 105 minutes.

Drama.

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, Keri Russell, Meredith Droeger, Diego Velazquez, Sam Hall, Jared Harris, Alan Ruck, Dee Wallace.

Director: Tom Vaughan.