Streaming on Apple TV at the moment is Still: A Michael J Fox Movie. It’s a documentary that:
“Follows the life of beloved actor and advocate Michael J. Fox, exploring his personal and professional triumphs and travails, and what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease.”
Michael J. Fox is a screen legend. Who on Earth hasn’t seen Back to the Future? It is one of the biggest movies ever made and will always be a near-perfect movie. It put Fox on the map and he was beloved by just about everyone. I know that when Back to the Future came out I was 10, and it made me want to skateboard and hitch rides on the back of cars. I wanted to be like Marty McFly.
Fox went on to do other movies like Teen Wolf, The Secret of My Success, The Hard Way, Casualties of War, Doc Hollywood, and as the voice of Stuart Little. He returned to TV with Spin City, but this was while he was secretly battling Parkinson’s Disease. The documentary, written by Fox, goes into how he would cope with trying to hide the illness and still making TV shows and movies.
Basically, he was taking a lot of drugs to try and keep it under control, while spending a lot of time away from his wife and kids. In the end, he had to tell people about his illness and he became an ambassador for it, speaking up around the world.
Michael and his wife, Tracy Pollan in the early days
Still: The Documentary
The documentary is fantastically done. The interviews with Fox are all intercut with clips from his movies and TV shows and it is edited to perfection. Seeing him now is heartbreaking. The guy seems really cool and the type of actor that would happily make time for his fans if he met them on the street. Parkinson’s means he has trouble walking and will occasionally fall over. This usually results in broken bones.
If it wasn’t for Parkinson’s he would still be making movies today. I know he does, but not on the scale he should be. He is a fighter though and even though he seems to be in constant pain, he battles through.
I know Fox was in TV shows like Family Ties, but we never really got that in the UK. The first time I ever saw him was in Back to the Future. He was cool, a fun guy and, as I said, I wanted to be as cool as Marty. I kind of didn’t want to watch the documentary, as I wanted to keep Marty McFly in my head, but I’m glad I saw it. He is a nice guy and he doesn’t deserve an illness like this.
Still is a hard documentary to watch, but it is worth watching. Fox is a legend, not only in his movies but in real life too. I have a lot of respect for him for telling his story.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is now streaming on Apple TV.
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