STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie (2023)

Written by CinemaSerf on February 4, 2024

Now this is how you do a documentary about illness! Clearly this is a man with considerable skill in front of a camera, but his general demeanour and willingness to reflect on the drawbacks and positives of his Parkinson's Disease is revelatory and engaging. Using his highly successful Hollywood career as a bedrock, he shares the roller-coaster ride that has been his life. From his burger-fuelled bedsit, through "Family Ties" then his struggle to get film roles, his astonishing success and then to his discovery and disclosure of his illness. It's all presented candidly, amusingly and by a fellow who has steadfastly refused to be beaten. Frequently looking a bit bruised and battered after a fall, and unafraid to illustrate the effects on his mobility and speech, he uses his celebrity status to fundraise for better research into this debilitating brain disease - but he does it without whining. He appreciates he's had a great life - he's a wealthy man with a wife of 30-odd years and four children whom he clearly adores. So many of the documentaries we see nowadays are presented by people who take a camera phone and just use it as an excuse for an highly personal rant. This man has taken the time to construct - from his own book - a narrative that structures how his own (pretty constant) physiotherapy, his dependence on medication and the love of his family give him continuing strength to combat his own demons, sure, but also to put things into a perspective and that I found sad, but actually quite heart-warming. My one complaint is the interviews he does with director Davis Guggenheim. Couldn't he have given himself a microphone? He does rather mumble. Anyone else think MJF now looks a bit like Mark Hamill?