Michael J. Fox Moves Sundance to Tears With Triumphant Documentary

For much of the ’80s and ’90s, Michael J. Fox was one of America’s favorite stars, which is why the news that he had Parkinson’s disease landed like such a shocking blow to the collective culture. 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.

An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim places Fox front-and-center throughout Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, with close-up interviews between filmmaker and star affording the former a chance to draw audiences near to his subject, and the latter an opportunity to candidly discuss his ups and downs while radiating the charisma that first made him a TV and movie sensation.

From the moment he arrived on NBC’s Family Ties, Fox was a whirlwind of witty charm. As a result, arguably the most touching component of Guggenheim’s documentary—premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival ahead of its forthcoming Apple TV+ debut—is the revelation that, despite wrestling with a condition that’s transformed the way he looks, acts and interacts with the world, he hasn’t let his ailment dim his irrepressible magnetism and winning sense of humor.

Read more at The Daily Beast.