‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ rave reviews: ‘A captivating inside look at the life and career of a beloved entertainer’
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On May 12, 2023, Apple TV+ released “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” which follows the life of the beloved actor and advocate, exploring his personal and professional triumphs and travails, and what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease. The documentary is directed by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”) and features scenes from the actor’s iconic Hollywood career and an eye-opening (and often-times humorous) interview with the film’s subject.
Holding fresh at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, the critics’ consensus reads, “Poignant and profound, ‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ offers a captivating inside look at the life and career of a beloved entertainer.” Other individuals featured in the documentary include Fox’s wife Tracy Pollan, Andrew Barber, Danny Irizarry and Hannah Galway. Read our full review round-up below.
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Amber Wilkinson of Eye for Film writes, “Editing comes to the fore as Fox talks about the way he initially hid his diagnosis from his employers and fans. He notes: ‘An actor’s burning condition is to spend as much time as possible being someone else.’ So masking his condition became a part of the performance, generally by holding something in his ‘bad’ hand. In a montage cut together by [editor Michael Harte] we see this in action, able to spot the shake that nobody did until Fox announced it in 1998 – seven years after his diagnosis.” Wilkinson concludes, “The film doesn’t shy away from the pain or difficulties that living with this sort of long-term condition has brought but leavens this with the indomitable humour of Fox himself. He may be a little guy – something the film also repeatedly highlights – but as a campaigner for research, he continues to have a big impact.”
Nick Schager of The Daily Beast says, “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is the endearing and affecting story of the beloved ‘Family Ties’ and ‘Back to the Future’ actor’s journey from Canada to Hollywood to the forefront of a fight against an incurable malady. Its poignancy and humor is amplified by its canny decision to let Fox tell his own tale.” He adds, “Sitting in a study, Fox describes the feeling of biding time until his Parkinson’s medication takes hold (he refers to it as ‘waiting for the bus’), details the numerous injuries that are an inevitable component of his day-to-day (and can’t be avoided simply by ‘being careful’), and the heroic commitment and love of his wife Tracy Pollan, whom he praises for assuming an onerous burden that wasn’t hers to shoulder. Guggenheim’s documentary is, in the end, a moving—and unfinished—portrait of a man, artist and crusader who refuses to sit still.”
Tomris Laffly of AV Club writes, “What Gen-Xer didn’t have a youth partly defined by Michael J. Fox as a dreamy presence? In the joyous and appropriately emotional ‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,’ deft documentarian Davis Guggenheim understands this nostalgia at a deep level and delivers the actor’s life story both inventively and with the utmost sensitivity. Guggenheim’s biggest success here is letting Fox be in charge of his own narrative by telling his story himself, a decision that smartly eliminates all potentially problematic avenues in engaging with the incurable Parkinson’s disease that the star lives with, after being diagnosed at age 29.”
Peter Bradshaw of Guardian praises the film, noting, “It’s an arresting watch, although in addition to dramatic reconstructions of his childhood, film-maker Davis Guggenheim has a cutesy-ironic habit of using clips from Fox’s movies themselves to dramatise key moments in Fox’s life: an unnecessary, distracting and slightly naive approach, eliding the public and private personae.” He adds, “Fox is a thoroughly likable man, utterly without self-pity, but perhaps also without reflection: sometimes Guggenheim has to press him on how he never says he’s in pain. It could be that his natural upbeat style is his survival mechanism.”
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