May 28, 2024
FILM: FOR LOVE & LIFE: NO ORDINARY CAMPAIGN
DIRECTED BY: CHRISTOPHER BURKE
STARRING: BRIAN WALLACH
RATING: 3 stars out of 4
By Dan Pal
The last several years have seen an increase in documentaries about the life-threatening disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. 2016’s Gleason told the heart-wrenching story of former professional football player Steve Gleason as he and his family fought his sad decline. 2021’s Not Going Quietly told the equally moving story of Ady Barkan’s struggle as he helped create a political movement to fight the disease. The latest film is For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign, which follows former Obama political director and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Wallach who was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 37.
Each of these films tackles the cure-finding movement in different ways. The first two are a bit more sentimental but still highly inspiring. No Going Quietly was my favorite documentary in 2021 in part because it powerfully combined one person’s diagnosis with his persevering fight. For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign is effective as a clear call to action. It makes the experience a bit more of a commercial campaign though then a heart tugging piece of cinema. That’s not to say that it is a lesser film but it does push heavily to get the audience to join the fight more than the previous films did. At times, it feels like a very long commercial filled with an incessant score akin to those found in drug advertisements. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though as the film has an aggressive agenda filled with fighters who push as hard as they can to win the battle. It’s just that some of the scenes don’t need such manipulative music. Even a montage of the early days of Brian’s marriage to his wife Sandra feels like a music video selling the joys of a happy couple.
Throughout the film there are very good interviews with former President Obama along with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (who’s initiative helped fund the film) and many other victims and their families. The film is also filled with some of their digital home recordings documenting the fast progression of the disease. More than that, the film features plenty of political discussions, the development of the organization I Am ALS, and the pressures placed on Washington to speed up drug decisions by the FDA. Many of the patients have had to wait for months to obtain the necessary social security benefits needed to live and survive.
So, in the end, the value of For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign is that it can inspire victims, their family members, and the general public to join the efforts of the ALS movement. There clearly has been a lot of progress in the last few years to help slow or even end the disease. For that, I’m glad the film exists even if the approach might come across as a bit of a heavy-handed piece of promotion.
For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign begins streaming on Amazon Prime this week.
FILM: FOR LOVE & LIFE: NO ORDINARY CAMPAIGN
DIRECTED BY: CHRISTOPHER BURKE
STARRING: BRIAN WALLACH
RATING: 3 stars out of 4
By Dan Pal
The last several years have seen an increase in documentaries about the life-threatening disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. 2016’s Gleason told the heart-wrenching story of former professional football player Steve Gleason as he and his family fought his sad decline. 2021’s Not Going Quietly told the equally moving story of Ady Barkan’s struggle as he helped create a political movement to fight the disease. The latest film is For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign, which follows former Obama political director and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Wallach who was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 37.
Each of these films tackles the cure-finding movement in different ways. The first two are a bit more sentimental but still highly inspiring. No Going Quietly was my favorite documentary in 2021 in part because it powerfully combined one person’s diagnosis with his persevering fight. For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign is effective as a clear call to action. It makes the experience a bit more of a commercial campaign though then a heart tugging piece of cinema. That’s not to say that it is a lesser film but it does push heavily to get the audience to join the fight more than the previous films did. At times, it feels like a very long commercial filled with an incessant score akin to those found in drug advertisements. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though as the film has an aggressive agenda filled with fighters who push as hard as they can to win the battle. It’s just that some of the scenes don’t need such manipulative music. Even a montage of the early days of Brian’s marriage to his wife Sandra feels like a music video selling the joys of a happy couple.
Throughout the film there are very good interviews with former President Obama along with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (who’s initiative helped fund the film) and many other victims and their families. The film is also filled with some of their digital home recordings documenting the fast progression of the disease. More than that, the film features plenty of political discussions, the development of the organization I Am ALS, and the pressures placed on Washington to speed up drug decisions by the FDA. Many of the patients have had to wait for months to obtain the necessary social security benefits needed to live and survive.
So, in the end, the value of For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign is that it can inspire victims, their family members, and the general public to join the efforts of the ALS movement. There clearly has been a lot of progress in the last few years to help slow or even end the disease. For that, I’m glad the film exists even if the approach might come across as a bit of a heavy-handed piece of promotion.
For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign begins streaming on Amazon Prime this week.
