If there’s one thing Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, the WB documentary from directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, does well is it brings layers and balance to the story of Christopher Reeve, the late actor best known for playing Superman in Richard Donner’s 1978 classic. It’s a role that brought him fame and made him a forever star, but while Super/Man touches upon the role, its impact on Reeve’s career and personal life, the documentary is more of a touching ode to the complicated, charming man behind the cape, and the perseverance he showed following his accident.
- Director
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Ian Bonhôte
, Peter Ettedgui - Writers
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Christopher Reeve
, Alexandra Reeve
Biopics have often turned their subjects into untouchable idols and there are plenty of documentaries that have done the same. Bonhôte and Ettedgui don’t shy away from Reeve’s hero factor, but they don’t treat him as though he was perfect, either. Interviews — with children Matthew, Alexandra, and Will, ex-partner Gae Exton, and friends like Susan Sarandon, Glenn Close, and Jeff Daniels — footage, and narration exquisitely capture the depth of who Reeve was as a person while centering various points of his life, all of which coalesce around the actor’s post-paralysis life and how that fundamentally changed him and his relationships.
Super/Man Is An Honest Look At Christopher Reeve
Super/Man is a touching, and occasionally tear-jerking, viewing experience. It’s not that Reeve’s story isn’t sad — there are of course multiple moments that are — but it’s profoundly inspiring and raw. At one point, Reeve is shown in interview footage and he’s saying he is nothing like Superman, but that people put that on him. The reality is that Reeve was a far more complex man than his famous onscreen persona. He wasn’t the most attentive partner to Gae, and Matthew recounts how the day after he was born, Reeve went skiing with friends in Switzerland.
At the same time, the film doubles down on how helpful the actor was in raising money for paralysis research through his foundation, now the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and the struggles he faced in his career with no commercial hits besides Superman, as well as the joy of being with his family and wife Dana. Through various lenses, Super/Man becomes a rich, dynamic portrait of a man who may have once seemed invincible but whose truth and mind were brought further into the light following his life-changing accident.
Super/Man Seamlessly Moves From One Part Of Reeve’s Life To Another
It Gives Us A Deeper & Closer Look At The Late Actor
Reeve isn’t painted in black and white, and that’s quite lovely and relatable considering the larger-than-life superhero he portrayed in superhero movies. The fact that Bonhôte and Ettedgui underscore Reeve’s sense of bitterness about playing Superman in the third and fourth movies, specifically, reveals the vulnerability he also felt as an actor in an industry that is quick to typecast people (though Reeve made sure to play a variety of different roles during his career despite the lack of commercial success of those movies).
It’s an informative, lovely, and poignant film that sheds the facade of what an ideal hero is while looking at the way a regular human can still do good.
The documentary seamlessly moves from one moment in Reeve’s life to another, refusing to stick to a chronological timeline of events. When one subject comes up — be it Reeve’s career, the pushback he received from some in the disabled community regarding the way he spoke about disability or his relationship with his dad — Super/Man is incredibly adept at handling each and transitioning from one to the other naturally. While it focuses on some things over others, the film offers a well-rounded understanding of who Reeve was as a person.
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Whether you know about the details of Reeve’s life or not, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is a thoughtful and engaging look at various aspects of the actor’s life and personality. The directors don’t sanitize Reeve or avoid discussion about the less-than-perfect parts of him. Yet, the documentary is hopeful despite all that he and his family faced. It’s an informative, lovely, and poignant film that sheds the facade of what an ideal hero is while looking at the way a regular human can still do good.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story opened in UK theaters on November 1. The film is 104 minutes long and rated PG-13 for some strong language and thematic elements.
8/10
Superam/Man explores Christopher Reeve’s rise as the iconic Superman, his life-changing injury, and his advocacy for spinal cord research and disability rights. Featuring unseen footage and interviews with his family and Hollywood peers, it offers a powerful look at Reeve’s remarkable life and legacy.
- The film is a multidimensional portrait of actor and man
- The documentary is poignant and hopeful
- Super/Man seamlessly moves from one subject to another