When director Davis Guggenheim contacted Michael J Fox Three years ago hoping to make a film about his life, the actor initially balked at the idea — particularly a film centered on stories he had already written about in four bestselling memoirs.
“I told him, my story doesn’t need much of an explanation,” Fox recalled. “I don’t know how many times you can tell it.”
However, Guggenheim insisted. He didn’t want to make a movie version of the Fox memoir, nor a regular documentary. He wanted to make a feature film as lively and humorous as the subject of his attention, a fun and fast-paced effort similar to a movie starring Michael J. Fox.
In the end, Fox relented, albeit on one condition: no violins. “No sentimental treatment for a guy with a terrible diagnosis,” Guggenheim said.
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” (streaming on Apple TV+), weaves together scripted re-creations, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with Fox and clips from his 40-year career, including his breakout roles in “Back to the Future” and in the television series “Family Ties”.
The film is a genderless hybrid that draws on Fox’s work on film and television to illustrate key moments in his life, and even reveal long-held secrets—among them, how he managed to hide his Parkinson’s disease for years, even while starring in the comedy series “Spin City.”
Initially, Guggenheim wanted to tell the Fox story largely through re-enactments, with actors playing Fox at various stages of his life. But the film’s editor, Michael Harte, believed that using a double for someone as recognizable as Fox would “take audiences out of the film.”
Instead, Harte thought they could use Fox TV and film clips to tell their story.
One day, Harte combined a scene from the film “Bright Lights, Big City,” in which Fox reviews an article he has been asked to verify, with an audio clip of the actor describing the first time he read the “Back” script. to the future”. Guggenheim loved the mix and encouraged Harte to find more.
In the tape, the filmmakers mixed scripted scenes of Fox’s double, taken from behind so his face couldn’t be seen, and shots of the real Fox, either from his films and shows, or behind-the-scenes clips taken from 92 videocassettes of “Family Ties” material.
The filmmakers also reviewed episodes of “Spin City” for material on how Fox had kept his Parkinson’s hidden from the cast, crew and audiences. In one montage, we see Fox fiddling with feathers, holding phones, checking his watch and rolling up his sleeves—anything to hide the tremor in his left hand.
Fox was pleased with the finished project.
Some moments were emotional to watch, particularly those about Tracy Pollan, Fox’s wife of 35 years, whom he met on the “Family Ties” forum.
“I married this girl who had a budding career, was doing well, and then she married me and was like a single mom,” Fox said. “I was making movies and she was home with a baby, and I was kidding about it on talk shows.
“And he stayed by my side when he could have left,” he continued. “She could have said, ‘Parkinson’s, that’s not for me.’ But she didn’t, she stayed. Being able to see that on film was a privilege.”
By: Robert Ito
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6727159, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-05-23 19:00:07
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