Directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is likely to be remembered as one of the best documentaries of the year and, at the same time, also one of the most emotionally overwhelming. It is an incredibly moving portrait of the man who became synonymous with the Man of Steel and whose life was forever changed when he landed head-first on the ground after being thrown off a horse. Reeve’s story is well-known one: from a superhero superstar to a man paralyzed from the neck down forever fighting for improvements for people with disabilities, as well as the opportunity to walk again potentially. But this documentary takes you a step further.
The film features lengthy and impactful interviews with his three children, as well as multiple notable comments and thoughts from everyone from his half-brother and the mother to two of his three children to stars like Glenn Close and Jeff Daniels. Intercut with film clips, impactful interviews, and general archival footage of his stardom are private family recordings that take you behind the curtain to reveal the loves of his life (and the love really does come pouring out the screen). When we don’t see these things, the documentary tends to show a CG Superman-esque body gradually getting covered in green kryptonite as a way to visualize his injuries and struggles.
It’s a beautifully made portrait of Reeve and his love of family, superstardom, icon status, heroism, and his crucial activism that, at the same time, is also upfront and honest about him. The documentary doesn’t shy away from moments when parts of the disabled community took issue with comments he had made, there are moments when it is made clear by his children that, when they were at their youngest, they weren’t as close as they would’ve liked because of his stardom, and so on and so forth. It is, nonetheless, a celebration of him and his late wife (there’s also a very honest and revealing journal entry of hers that they read aloud, which is really eloquent about what difficulties she had following his paralysis).
Another notable element from the documentary is the fact that Reeve and Robin Williams had a great relationship, which I did not know, and the moments wherein Williams is shown or mentioned are also really effective. But, by far, the most devastating part of the documentary is hearing how his family reacted to their heroic father’s passing. Constantly, as you’re watching the documentary, you can feel a tear consistently sitting at the corner of your eye just waiting for a moment when the waterworks are turned on, and, trust me, eventually, Super/Man overpowers you. It is a beautiful but heartbreaking portrait of a hero both in front of and behind the camera, whose superhero role wasn’t the only thing heroic or super about him.
8 out of 10
– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 