Michael J. Fox agreed to make a documentary about his life, career and of course, his battle with Parkinson Disease. As the physician who diagnoses him says, "it's a battle that you won't win." But I get the feeling he insisted this would and should be as unsentimental as possible; none of that "oh woe is me" crap that drives people to resent rich, successful celebrities struggling with that same real-life crap that we all have to. Michael's angelic wife, Tracy Pollan (who upon learning of his diagnosis, whispers "in sickness and in health" ... {sniffles} God Bless Her!) and equally devoted children are clearly his primary reasons for living. But after 10 years of (mostly) silent suffering, he discovered another reason: going public with his incurable condition has increased awareness of it greatly and been a literal, welcome and much-needed $2 billion boon to the funding of research into the disease. I'll admit I was surprised that the punk kid on Family Ties (older than he looked, it turned out) also turned out to be a genuinely good actor. But I was even more surprised and delighted to see him ultimately turn out to be an even better human being. I feel lucky to have lived during the extremely noteworthy life and times of the Canadian actor, wellness activist/philanthropist and man truly with a mission, Michael J. Fox. He is "da man"!!! I rate this a strong 9 of 10 stars.
Review of Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
(II) (2023)
Another brilliant documentary from Davis Guggenheim
13 May 2023