Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Seen at the 2023 Atlanta Film Festival.
Michael J. Fox has not been a leading man in movies or TV in about a decade, but it says something that he has continued to occupy a beloved place in pop culture regardless. Whenever he shows up in a bit part of a movie, or guest stars on a TV show, people tune in because Fox has always had that magnetic charm. It’s why he shot out of a canon to stardom in “Family Ties,” and why the “Back to the Future” trilogy remains an iconic piece of 1980s nostalgia to this day. For two decades, his most important work has been away from a film set or TV studio, as an advocate for people who have Parkinson’s Disease. In “Still,” he gets in front of Davis Guggenheim’s camera, and reflects on a life, constantly in motion.
We begin in a hotel room in 1990. Fox is waking up from a night of drinking with Woody Harrelson, and something seems off. His left pinkie finger is twitching. This was the first sign of his Parkinson’s he had, although he didn’t know it then. Up to that point, he was one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, what with his acclaimed role as Alex P. Keaton in “Family Ties,” and a movie career that exploded after “Back to the Future.” But when he realized he had Parkinson’s, it started a personal free fall that he struggled with for years, even as he continued to work; not even his family could help. He eventually found his on-screen groove with “Spin City” again, but even then, he didn’t immediately tell the world his diagnosis. Eventually, there was no going back, and he had to tell the world, uncertain whether they would still accept him.
One of the things we feel acutely watching Guggenheim’s film is a sense of motion. It’s not just the effects of the Parkinson’s we see during the interview segments, but how much Fox seemed in motion in his TV and movie work. Guggenheim uses recreations of Fox going through his career to give us an idea of the non-stop way he approached life in his early years, going off of a moment he shares of when he would- as a child- run down the street to the store and buy something, the shop owner called his parents to tell them- and he ran back. Listening to Fox reflect on his life, and how much he seemed to be constantly moving, it’s hard not to think back on his career- even in moments not shown in the film- and realize he seemed to use that movement to his advantage in his performances. We also see moments with him and a personal trainer, who is trying to get Fox to slow down, as a way of helping get his brain and body in sync, which Parkinson’s helps take away from him.
Even now, Fox is as charismatic as ever, but the things we take away most from “Still” is how it shines a light on his personal life. We see how his relationship with his wife, actress Tracy Pollan, started, and the struggles along the way. We also see how they are doing now, and how that phrase often heard in wedding vows, “in sickness and in health,” are not just words to them; it means something. Watching this film, seeing clips from movies and TV shows I grew up with- and grew to love as an adult- it made me remember what a wonderful presence in my life as a watcher of pop culture Michael J. Fox has been. I’m grateful for “Still” for reminding me of that.
