Educational Media Reviews Online

First, a confession – this reviewer has never been a fan of “inspirational” biographies. The numerous testimonials to the subject’s worthiness by his or her friends and family, the saccharine theme music, the exhortations to live up to this person’s example, all leave me cold. All of these aspects of this genre can indeed be found in Go Far. Yet in the end, they fade to less than the irritants they might be otherwise in the whole telling of an exceptional – and, yes, inspiring – young man, Christopher Rush.

Narrated by Mark Hamill (of Star Wars fame), the film tells the story of “Toph’s” lifelong struggle with muscular dystrophy and other physical ailments and his cheerful determination to overcome these obstacles using his own “GO FAR” philosophy – that is, Goals, Obstacles (“recognize and face” them), Focus, Act (assertively), and Review. Along the way Rush served as an example and mentor to other young people (with disabilities or not) as well as a friendly corrective to society’s prejudices toward people in wheelchairs. That the film also includes at least a couple of anecdotes about his less-than-saintly escapades is helpful in creating a full picture of the man. This is one inspirational biography that deserves a heartfelt recommendation.