FILM Michael J. Fox movie to you, well, Michael J. Fox you’re not far off. in Still, coming Frankness has to Denver Film always been one of Center and Apple Fox’s greatest TV+ on May 12. assets as a performPhoto courtesy er — playing exacerApply TV+. bated is another — and he brings that quality into Still. In one section, Fox explains that his ‘Still’ is an intimate look at Parkinson’s first manifested as a career and a disease uncontrollable tremors in his left hand; BY MICHAEL J. CASEY and to cover it up for the camera, he would constantly give his hands something to do. If you years old, still cute, still funny and still ven before Michael J. Fox was watched Spin City back in the midin front of a camera. diagnosed with Parkinson’s, 1990s, Fox’s twitchy performance as His latest, Still: A Michael J. Fox he had a hard time sitting still. deputy mayor Mike Flaherty felt elecMovie from documentarian Davis It was part of his go-getter attitude Guggenheim, opens May 12 in select tric, as if he had so many problems to that made him a superstar while he handle he couldn’t possibly sit still. theaters and on Apple TV+. At once was still in his 20s — to say nothing That was before Fox went public a career retrospective and a portrait of how effectively it translated to the with his diagnosis in 1998. Not long of Fox’s daily struggles with screen in all his memorable characafter, Fox returned to TV as a visiting Parkinson’s disease — he was diagters. It was like he radiated a particudoctor on Scrubs suffering from obsesnosed in 1991 — Still manages to lar brand of disarming charm. sive-compulsive disorder. By then, not feel like exploitation by employWhen Fox told his high school most people watching knew what was ing Fox as a collaborator rather than teacher back in Canada he was leavhappening behind the scenes, giving a subject. It’s the story of a plucky ing to go act in Los Angeles, his the performance an extra edge. Not kid who rises, falls a little and then teacher told him he was making a that any of Fox’s performances have gets back up to face another day. mistake: “You won’t be cute forever.” ever needed an edge. And if that sounds like a typical Joke’s on that guy. Today Fox is 61
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Which makes Still’s construction feel somewhat counterintuitive. Guggenheim and editor Michael Harte deftly edit together various Fox performances from Family Ties, the Back to the Future trilogy, Doc Hollywood and so on, as if they are all B-roll footage accompanying Fox’s memories. (The shot of Fox groggily waking up in his mother’s bed in Back to the Future is used to illustrate the long hours Fox worked making movies while shooting weekly TV episodes.) But not even Fox’s catalog has enough footage to fill in all the gaps, so Guggenheim cooks up new footage, cleverly shot so as not to linger on faces or specifics, in an attempt to blend in with the preexisting footage. It almost works. But it also feels like a cheat. What isn’t a cheat is Fox: his life, his love, his demons and his diagnosis. As he talks to Guggenheim’s camera, treating it like a friend he enjoys catching up with, Fox creates a welcoming space to tackle difficult material while having a good laugh.
ON SCREEN: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie will screen at the Denver Film Center and stream on Apple TV+ starting May 12.
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