New film captures Michael J. Fox at his most poignant and personal

If you were around in the mid-1980s, then you probably recall that Michael J. Fox was the biggest star in the movies and on television.

You can look it up. Start with the movies. According to Box Office Mojo, “Back to the Future,” the heartwarming comedy in which Fox starred as time-traveling teen Marty McFly, was the top movie of 1985. In fact, during the Labor Day Weekend that year, “Back to the Future” and “Teen Wolf,” another Fox comedy, were numbers one and two at the box office.

Then there's television. “Family Ties,” the popular sitcom that introduced the Canadian Fox to the United States, landed as close as you can get to the top of the Nielsen ratings in 1985. The show placed second, behind only “The Cosby Show” as the most beloved program on TV.

With “Back to the Future,” Fox made the leap from the small screen to the silver screen, a jump very few TV actors can pull off. As far as the '80s go, only Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis come to mind. Maybe Tom Selleck and Ted Danson too, when you consider the two of them were in the 1987 hit “Three Men and a Baby” together.

Throughout the '80s, Fox succeeded in comedies but struggled, box office-wise, when he tried dramas. This was not his fault, as he was quite good as Joan Jett’s brother in the rock-and-roll drama “Light of Day,” as a coke-addicted Manhattanite in “Bright Lights, Big City,” and as a solider who witnesses a brutal war crime in “Casualties of War.” When those dramas tanked at theaters, Fox figured out he needed to stick with making people laugh, something he did well.

But here we are, more than 30 years later. For the first time in years, Michael J. Fox has a new movie out, and it is indeed a drama. It’s a documentary drama, to be exact, and it explores the human condition in ways only Fox could because it tells the story of his brutal but determined battle against Parkinson’s disease.

“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” is one of the best films of 2023. You can catch it on the Apple TV streaming service.

According to Parkinson’s Foundation, Parkinson’s disease is a “neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominantly the dopamine-producing neurons” in a particular part of the brain. Symptoms include tremors, slowness in movement, stiffness in the limbs, and balancing difficulties.

According to “Still,” Fox knew something was not right when he woke up in a hotel room in Florida one morning in the early 1990s and noticed that one of his pinkies would not stop trembling. Eventually, when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he kept his illness to himself and his family and continued acting. He even took the lead in “Spin City,” a smart and charming sitcom about the political maneuverings of a mayor’s PR guru.

For those who watched “Spin City” in the 1990s, “Still” provides 20/20 hindsight. In the show, Fox showed his trademark gift for light and loose physical comedy, as he played a man always in motion. Watching the show, you never mistook his busy hands as signs something was amiss. “Still,” however, presents a few clips from the sitcom and, well, the tricks Fox used to conceal his condition are right there in plain sight.

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“Still” is a heartbreaking and unflinching look at what Fox has endured all these years. Those who have not seen him on screen in ages may be alarmed by the progression of his disease. But of all the feelings that this film prompts in viewers, pity is not among them. Empathy, understanding and inspiration are. If you’ve watched Fox for decades now, or have read the books he has written, or have followed his work with the organization for Parkinson's research he founded, then you know Fox would not have it any other way.

Actually, the film is often funny and exhilarating, especially during its first half, when it focuses on Fox’s childhood and his quick blast into Hollywood stardom. A montage set to “Welcome to the Jungle,” by Guns ‘N’ Roses, presents rapid-fire clips of adoring fans, magazine stands, talk show appearances, and hustles from one film or TV shoot and red-carpet event to another. This sequence has as much kick as the exciting last 15 minutes of “Back to the Future.”

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But yes: the documentary gives way to scenes of physical and emotional struggle and torment, and stories of alcoholism, depression and retreat, as interviewer Davis Guggenheim provides opportunities for Fox to show the raw candor for which he has become known these last 25-plus years.

But yes too: Fox’s disarming wit and self-deprecating humor are on display throughout.

“Still” is a tribute to perseverance, but it’s also a warm and winning celebration of marriage and family. Fox shares one story from the set of “Family Ties,” involving a moment in which he treated his co-star and future wife, Tracy Pollan, poorly. In full view of the cast and crew, Pollan handles Fox’s transgression with calm, dignity and guts. If Fox, then at the peak of his fame, had reacted to Pollan’s rebuke as would any other spoiled Hollywood star, then he would have missed out on precisely the kind of life partner you would want – would need – at your side when faced with a debilitating and incurable illness.

“Still” also is a tribute to role-modeling, to understanding that we all represent something to someone and it is necessary for us to bear that in mind as we make our way through life. In one scene, during a strenuous round of physical therapy, Fox acknowledges the example he sets for those who struggle and says he does not want to let them down.

We need not worry about that happening. “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” lasts all of 90 minutes, but it presents a man who for nearly 30 years has showed us what to do when our darkest moment - that most daunting challenge to our mind, body and soul - finally reveals itself.

Shawn P. Sullivan is an award-winning columnist and reporter for the York County Coast Star and Seacoastonline. He can be reached at ssullivan@seacoastonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: 'Still: A Michael J. Fox film' captures actor at his most poignant and personal