Super/Man (United States, 2024)

I approached Super/Man with a healthy degree of skepticism. After all, Christopher Reeve’s life, health crisis, and death are an open book. What would be the point of rehashing incidents that played out in the media 30 years ago? I had no great interest in slogging through a chronology of Reeve’s greatest hits. But the movie, co-directed by Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui, managed to surprise me both because of what it is and what it isn’t.

The film doesn’t attempt to be a visual adaptation of Reeve’s Wikipedia page. Although there are some clips from his movies and various biographical details, this is a far more intimate portrait than I expected, highlighted by family videos and previously unseen footage of Reeve as he struggled to redefine himself after that fateful day in 1995 when everything changed for him.

Many of the reviews I've read about this documentary praised it for being inspirational – and far be it from me to discount that interpretation. For me, however, it was an intensely sad experience to recognize the pain caused to the survivors by the twin deaths of Reeve and his wife, Dana, within an 18-month span. Throw in Robin Williams as well. As is noted at one point in the film, had Reeve not died, Williams might still be alive.

Although it's possible to be impressed by the perseverance shown by Reeve as he confronted his life’s greatest challenge, it’s equally impossible not to empathize with the pain expressed by the actor’s now-adult children: Will, Matthew, and Alexandra, all of whom sat down for lengthy interviews with the filmmakers. Their reminiscences form the skeleton of this motion picture.

Super/Man opens with the Superman March – a rousing way to begin the documentary. However, this is the only time the iconic John Williams theme is heard during the course of the production. That, like the character of Superman, is not the focus of Ettedgui's interest. Although he gives the actor's pre-1995 filmography its due, the movie's primary narrative begins the day that Reeve fell from his horse and broke his neck. At least 50% of the content relates to events that occurred between May 27, 1995 and October 10, 2004 (his death).

Over the course of the documentary's 104-minute running time, the most prominent face (and voice) is that of Reeve (via archived material and previously private footage). His wife, Dana, who died of cancer in 2006, is also featured. There are numerous new, "talking head" interviews with Reeve's three children; their insights and commentary provide much of the movie’s depth and emotional resonance. Bonhote and Ettedgui also filmed segments with various prominent Hollywood figures (Glenn Close, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Daniels, Whoopi Goldberg) although it’s questionable how much these appearances add beyond star power.

Super/Man is compelling in the way it expands Reeve's story beyond the well-known facts and presents a more fully rounded portrait of the man during the final years of his life. (It’s somewhat similar to – but not as forceful as – the Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself.) Admittedly, it may overuse the metaphor of its title, emphasizing that Reeve's real-life perseverance and refusal to give up defined his "heroism" more than anything his fictional alter-ego might have done.

This represents essential viewing for Christopher Reeve fans as it fills some of the white space left by other, more authoritative biographical approaches. As documentary biographies go, it's workmanlike but conventional – a solid effort and worthwhile investment of time though by no means a transformative or perspective-shifting film.

Super/Man (United States, 2024)