Movie Review ~ For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign

Few afflictions have posed as big a question to the medical community as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). This relentless neurodegenerative disorder robs the patient of their upper and lower motor neurons that control their essential functions.  The disease has been in the public consciousness since New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig was diagnosed in 1938, going public in 1939.  His indomitable spirit on the field earned him the nickname The Iron Horse, but his legacy would be to have his name attached to his illness, becoming a symbol for the human spirit’s fight against adversity.  

In the years since, Lou Gehrig’s Disease has become a cruel testament to our fragility with no cure yet identified.  Yet, during profound darkness, a beacon of hope resonates at the core of our resilience, fueling the inextinguishable fire to live.  As scientific breakthroughs and clinical trials offer tantalizing glimpses of hope, For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign bears witness to the birth of a movement that has galvanized a nation looking for answers from a government they feel has been slow to action.  Deftly weaving the personal with the political, the documentary (premiering on Prime Video) is also about the journey of one couple who has become the face of the crusade.

Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya enjoyed successful careers when they joined Barack Obama’s campaign for president in 2007.  Six years later, Obama was in the White House, and they were married, on their way to having two children.  On the day they brought their youngest child home from the hospital, Wallach received devastating news.  At 37, he was diagnosed with ALS and was given six months to live.  Unwilling to accept the prognosis, the couple sprang into action to learn more about ALS and treatments to slow its progression and improve the quality of life for those affected by it.  Seven years later, he’s defied the odds (like many others) and is making significant inroads on turning the tide about how we discuss ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other rare diseases.

Director Christopher Burke mines mountains of footage from the couple’s private movies and interviews with experts and ALS patients to form his stirring narrative around the inception and impact of I AM ALS, a patient-centric program founded by Wallach and Abrevaya in 2019.  The goal was to reshape the healthcare landscape and change the face of medical advocacy for themselves and countless others dying from rare diseases.  Rallying for increased funding for ALS research and pushing to expedite approval of new treatments caught in FDA red tape, I AM ALS has led with the mission to create a system that prioritizes compassion and empathy above all else.

It can be hard to make these documentaries that aim to put a human face on a widespread problem because there’s a risk it can turn into a rote David v. Goliath tale when, in this case, it’s more Goliath vs. Goliath. ALS takes no prisoners, and neither does the American Government.  Burke’s approach is to delicately weave in the Wallach/Abrevaya family’s intimate moments with the more widespread societal issues they tackle and the systematic reform they seek.  Through this path, we witness Wallach’s determination to live daily to the fullest and Abrevaya’s steadfast support even when asked to confront the inevitable.

It’s when the film strays from the personal and turns toward the general that it begins to feel like a glorified advertisement for I AM ALS, which continues to revolutionize available healthcare within a system that often leaves patients marginalized.  As the film follows the initiative making strides towards catalyzing a seismic shift in how ALS and other neurodegenerative disorders are discussed in the halls of government, it can get a bit bogged down in politics.  That said, watching Wallach and Abrevaya speak to various commissions and committees, culminating with an emotional summation of why more money is needed to fund research, is exceptionally moving.  

The sheer force of will documented in For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign gives it a great sense of purpose and power. Alternating between heart-wrenching and hopeful, it should be have particular appeal to viewers interested in how personal stories intersect with social justice and the resulting change that can happen when resilience wins out over fear.