It was another capacity crowd this week at the Paramount in Austin for the premiere of the Apple Original title STILL: A MICHAEL J FOX movie directed by Davis Guggenheim Getting to see Mr. Fox in person was an absolute highlight of the festival and he told many jokes in the Q&A.
ABOUT: The film incorporates documentary, archival and scripted elements, recounting Fox’s extraordinary story in his own words – the improbable tale of an undersized kid from a Canadian army base who rose to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood. The account of Fox’s public life, full of nostalgic thrills and cinematic gloss, unspools alongside his never-before-seen private journey, including the years that followed his diagnosis with Parkinson’s. Intimate and honest, and produced with unprecedented access to Fox and his family, the film chronicles Fox’s personal and professional triumphs and travails, and explores what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease.
JASON’S REACTION: You all factually love Michael J. Fox and everything he has contributed to the film world since the early 1980s and his legend is indisputable, so why the heck would you NOT see this loving documentary about the man? This is pretty much the Fox-doc that you want to see, and to my delight it’s wonderful and showcases his absolutely brilliant sense of humour and he dares you to judge him by his size. Though I already knew the story of the entire BACK TO THE FUTURE/FAMILY TIES (where he did both shows at once, shuttled in-between by union teamsters), it was truly wonderful, in one of the year’s best edited sequences, to see it all visually including BTTF clips actually timed to his narration. We also get quite a few to-the-camera, Errol Morris style interviews with Fox where he is completely open on dealing with his Parkinson’s disease and also how his loving wife Tracy (where they met on FAMILY TIES and have been together ever since) makes for some truly emotional filmmaking. Davis Guggenheim (AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, WAITING FOR SUPERMAN and IT MIGHT GET LOUD are just a few highlights) once again kills it with a great visual and aural presentation and while I wish it success in its eventual Apple TV+ release, this was such a theatrical experience at SxSW that I absolutely hopes it gets into some cinemas before it goes to my Apple box.
This film and many others like it will be showing at South By Southwest taking place March 10-19. For more information point your browser to www.sxsw.com!