Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is a moving documentary about the beloved actor and his struggle with Parkinson's disease - a brain disorder that causes uncontrollable shaking and difficulty with balance. The film is based on Fox's books about his life, chronicling his days of being a struggling actor, to hitting it big, and to Parkinson's.
It was 1990, and Fox was at the pinnacle of his success, when he woke up one morning to the twitching of his pinky finger. In 1991, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
We also get engaging stories such as how the actor was filming the hit TV series Family Ties during the day, then shooting the original Back to the Future during nights, and this went on for months. Fox also tells the story of how, moments after she cursed him out, he fell in love with actress Tracy Pollan, who would become his wife.
Director Davis Guggenheim presents this documentary in clever ways. Of course, there are sit-down interviews with Fox, and moments of the actor going about his day, but Guggenheim, however, also uses reenactments with doubles, and clips from Fox's movies reorganized to mirror the actor's narration.
An early sequence in Still shows Fox out for a walk with his bodyguard. Because of the disease, and the fact that Fox was always a ball of energy and wants to walk fast, the actor falls on the pavement. A concerned woman passing by asks, "Are you okay?" Fox and the bodyguard assure her he is fine. The lady then says, "It was nice to meet you, sir." Fox replies, "It was nice to meet you too. You knocked me off my feet." This shows that Fox is fighting the good fight, and he is a realist, but he's doing it all with that whip-smart sense of humor.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is now streaming on Apple TV+.
