John Crowley (Brendan Fraser, right) turns to eccentric scientist Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) in his determination to find a cure for his children's rare illness in Extraordinary Measures. (Alliance Films)If you're familiar with the Lifetime Network, or take a keen interest in the careers of Meredith Baxter Birney, Jaclyn Smith and Michelle Lee, you're well acquainted with that special breed of television movie in which a tough character suffers nobly in the face of some life-threatening illness.

One of the joys of the "disease of the week" movie is its sheer predictability. Designed to offer equal parts tears and uplift, this genre isn't intended for the Cahiers du Cinema crowd. So, it's all the more surprising that the TV network CBS is christening its new film division by giving Extraordinary Measures a theatrical release. Make no mistake: even with A-lister Harrison Ford attached as executive producer and star, Extraordinary Measures is material that would play far better on a small screen. At least then, viewers could feel less ashamed about snickering at the howlers that pass as dialogue.

As a scientist, Harrison Ford gives a lazy, non-performance type of performance, relying on snide, Han Solo line readings to get by.

Based on Geeta Anand's book The Cure, Extraordinary Measures is inspired by the true story of John Crowley (played here by Brendan Fraser), whose dogged attempts to find a cure for a neuromuscular disorder known as Pompe were nothing short of heroic. Crowley's interest in Pompe was personal: two of his three young children suffered from the potentially fatal disease.

Extraordinary Measures begins on the day of Megan Crowley's (Meredith Droeger) eighth birthday party. This should be a festive occasion, but her father's red-ringed eyes say otherwise. As the movie explains, most children diagnosed with Pompe don't survive past age nine, and both wheelchair-bound Megan and her ailing younger brother, Patrick, have less than a year to live.

At night, after his wife, Aileen (Keri Russell), and a team of private nurses have put the kids to bed, John pores over stacks of medical research in his study. He keeps coming back to a phone number for Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford), a scientist who's been experimenting with enzymes that might hold the key to treating Pompe. Out of desperation, Crowley ditches his flourishing business career in order to devote his energies to funding Stonehill's radical research.

Extraordinary Measures is clearly well intentioned, and the remarkable real-life story will undoubtedly put lumps in the throats of viewers who shed tears over the similar, though far superior Lorenzo's Oil. But director Tom Vaughan (What Happens in Vegas) seems hell-bent on portraying the Crowley family's struggles in the flattest, most predictable manner. There's the requisite uplifting score, the sunny montages of Crowley's superhuman fundraising efforts, a line about "seizing the day" and the frequent reminders that Megan is "some fighter."

Fraser's Crowley is a devoted father whose son, Patrick (Diego Velazquez), suffers from a neuromuscular disorder in Extraordinary Measures. (Alliance Films) The screenwriters aren't kidding about that last part. Decked out in pink ballerina wardrobe and tiara, Megan is one of those smart-alecky, precocious kid characters who only reside in American movies. The mugging urchin is surprisingly lively, knocking down pins at the bowling alley, zooming her wheelchair across a roller rink floor and ever ready to hurl a pointed, snarky barb at Dr. Bob Stonehill. Megan is exhausting, which might explain why Keri Russell invests her doting-mother scenes with all the energy of someone reading from a teleprompter.

It's up to Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford to save this movie. They almost do, though for wildly different reasons. Fraser is always a warm, likable presence, and he imbues his character with enough passion and seriousness that it's impossible not to be on his side.

Then along comes Harrison Ford, who's asked to stretch way beyond his comfortable action hero range in this mad scientist role. The screenplay frequently mentions Dr. Stonehill's eccentricity – something the audience is left to deduce from the fact that he wears rumpled jeans and T-shirts to work and blasts the Grateful Dead in his lab. This is a lazy, non-performance type of performance, with Ford relying on snide, Han Solo line readings to get by. When it's time for him to actually emote, the actor shouts in a grumpy old man voice that's unintentionally hilarious. (Savvy audiences have already picked up on this and are running his best line in a loop on YouTube.)

It might not be acting, but whatever Ford's doing is the most enjoyable part of the crushingly ordinary Extraordinary Measures. He almost succeeds in making it a great, trashy B-movie – the kind best watched at home in your pajamas on late-night TV.

Extraordinary Measures opens Jan. 22.

Lee Ferguson writes about the arts for CBC News.