Film Review: Michael J Fox is brutally honest in 'Still'

Michael J Fox was a Hollywood superstar when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, although it would be a further seven years before he announced the fact publicly.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (12A) opens with Fox receiving rehab treatment before venturing outside for a walk; recognised by a fan, the Back to the Future star stumbles and goes sprawling on the sidewalk, whereupon — unable to rise — he reassures the shocked fan that she has swept him off his feet. That blend of self-deprecating humour and toughness characterises the tone of this film, which refuses to sentimentalise Fox or his condition.

Tracy Pollan, Sam Fox, Esme Fox and Michael J. Fox in "STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie."

Once anointed ‘the Boy Prince of Hollywood’, Fox is brutally honest about who he really was behind the boyish good looks — a ‘dick’, he says bluntly — as he contrasts the chaotic whirlwind of his life before Parkinson’s with the way the disease has, ironically, forced him to be more spiritually and psychologically ‘still’.

Michael J. Fox in "STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie."

Equally fascinating is Fox’s appraisal of why he became an actor in the first place, and his confession of experiencing a deep personal and professional fear of being found out as a fake, with Fox’s straight-to-camera interviews interspersed with recreations of his private life and clips from his films and TV shows that combine to illustrate the desperate efforts Fox went to in order to conceal his diagnosis.

Superbly edited by Michael Harte, Davis Guggenheim’s Still is a clever, thoughtful, and heart-warming portrait that is at times jaw-dropping in its unvarnished portrayal of a Hollywood legend. You will probably never see its like again.

Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan in "STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie."

(cinema release / Apple TV+)