Did Parkinson’s save Michael J. Fox? Seems an absurd question, no? [And, for the record, I am asking it, not the documentary in question.] Parkinson’s took away Michael’s Hollywood A-List career and saddled him with countless health problems, balance problems, random physical injuries of varying degrees, and an alcohol dependency. Not to mention that Parkinson’s is a serious disease without a cure. Parkinson’s is injury. Parkinson’s is random collisions. Parkinson’s is pain.
But is Parkinson’s also salvation?
Let me ask this: what do you think of Michael J. Fox? Do any negative thoughts bubble up in your mind? Far as I can tell, he’s beloved and has been world-wide since Back to the Future. Do you know anybody who has a bad thing to say about Michael J. Fox? I don’t. I’m sure these people exist, but in such small numbers compared to pretty much every other present or former A-Lister you can name, huh? I attribute that to Parkinson’s. Michael J. Fox went from nobody to GQ almost overnight. That ruins people. But what did Parkinson’s do? It made him more dependent on his wife, his health, and his decreasing mobility. Yes, it did give him an alcohol problem, but in sober times, it made him focus on family and disability. And when you’re focused on family and disability, you’re not taking mistresses, snorting blow off hookers, or giving disturbing sound bites.
Young stars come and go and get into trouble. That’s what young stars do. Michael J. Fox did not have that luxury. Who is to say whether we see him the same way if Parkinson’s never happened?
I do not feel sorry for Michael J. Fox. He certainly doesn’t. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is a fairly simple documentary. Michael describes his life -more-or-less- in full while footage from his career on film is manipulated and interspersed to illustrate his state of mind at any given time. As a Canadian teen, Michael dropped out of school to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles. He had a look that is still coveted – because he’s undersized and eternally youthful, he could easily pass for high school in his 20s, making him a Hollywood coup: the precocious youngster.
His career did not start well. By the time he auditioned for “Family Ties,” he was down to collecting loose change off the street and swiping grape jelly packets for IHOP for sustenance. While his work on “Family Ties” made him employable for life, his big break came when Eric Stoltz proved a bad fit as Marty McFly. Michael’s description of the dynamics in filming both his TV show and the Robert Zemeckis film proved … awesome. He filmed TV in the day, Back to the Future at night, was driven by a teamster back and forth and then caught two to three hours of sleep at his apartment before a teamster with a key would wake him up. This was a pattern for over three months. He had to read scripts on the fly. In my mind, the most amazing part of this scenario is that Michael’s acting not only didn’t suffer; I would call Marty McFly his magnum opus.
Within weeks of the release of Back to the Future in 1985, a low-budget “horror” “comedy” was also
released. With Teen Wolf, Michael J. Fox was suddenly #1 and #2 at the box office simultaneously. His days of grape jelly at IHOP were over. His days of GQ had begun. In 1988. He married Tracy Pollan, a woman he met on the set of “Family Ties.” In 1991, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s … and suddenly his career countdown clock began ticking.
There’s a joy to Michael’s frankness. Perhaps this is simply the acting of life. He was always a good actor. It’s hard to look cool when your body tremors constantly. This is the milieu of the Parkinson’s subject. Michael points out on film the ways he tried to hide the disease, knowing it was career death. Now, he fully owns it and owns every way (positive and negative) he reacted to it. We get the impression that Tracy hasn’t been given enough credit – she was an actress once, then she became a mother of four and Michael J. Fox’s caretaker, guardian, and almost certainly his nursemaid as well. Her acting career has been spotty at best ever since; does she regret that? If she does, it doesn’t show.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is a simple documentary. It’s Michael, the camera, and dated clips. You will love it because you love Michael J. Fox. What’s not to love? He traveled through time, thwarted Biff and brought the best out in his goofy McFly parents. Then his career got cut short, tragically, by a disease you wouldn’t wish on anybody. The film seems more confessional than investigative, but it will get you talking, hence, while I won’t put it in my top 10 of 2023, I don’t have a problem with anybody who does. Overall, this might be my favorite biodoc since JCVD.
There once was an actor named Fox
Whose career got kicked to the rocks
Don’t fret for the guy
Not even sure why
There are smiles between the hard knocks
Rated R 95 Minutes
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Writer: Michael J. Fox
Genre: The happiest sob story ever
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of Michael J. Fox
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Fans of Parkinson’s
