STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Published May 12, 2023

Film info

Title STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Director Davis Guggenheim
Year 2023
Run time 1hr 35m
Genre Documentary
Tagline What does it mean to be still?

A short kid from a Canadian army base becomes the international pop culture darling of the 1980s—only to find the course of his life altered by a stunning diagnosis. What happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease?

Live blog

Time	Comment
6:02	“You knocked me off my feet.” Cute.
9:39	The boyhood haircuts though!
16:41	Didn’t know the chip and chair saying, I like it.
20:43	Documentary makers must be so happy about behind the scenes footage.
23:12	Ah the classic lunchbox I told you so.
29:59	So clever how they’ve put this together to tell the story of a guy getting NO SLEEP.
37:49	Celebs getting off with driving tickets, tut tut.
40:11	The bits with his physiotherapist are really interesting.
45:13	“A pig is a pig no matter how many hit movies he’s just had.”
54:47	Reading out autobiographies is brave work.
59:17	“I just have to live it and feel it. She has to make it work.”
1:04:27	Amazing watching the drugs kick in.
1:12:34	I wish Spin City was available to stream somewhere.
1:22:59	Shaking up the bottle is hilarious.

Thoughts

I’ve been looking forward to this documentary since I first heard about it and was determined to watch it on the very day it was released, and I’m so glad I did. It’s wonderful. I knew a lot of the facts and plot points having read Fox’s memoirs, but it’s different seeing these moments on screen.

Guggenheim has done a great job telling the story through re-enactments and archive footage, all pieced together so neatly as though the history of Fox’s TV and film appearances does somehow tell his life story without too much effort.

And it’s the small moments that really get to you, the looks, the pauses, the jokes. Oh god, I love this man. If anything, my only complaint is the doc is too short, I could have watched an hour or two more.

Rating: 5 / 5