Michael
Review by Mark Woodring
Another year, another biopic of a legendary musical artist. This time, it’s Antoine Fuqua’s look at The King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
Yep, I can’t see anything controversial about this movie…
**NOTE: You can read Mark’s review below, then listen or watch after he and Ryan have a chance to discuss the film in more depth. Remember, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
127 Minutes, Rated PG-13
Written by John Logan
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Synopsis:
The story of the famous musician Michael Jackson, known as the King of Pop.
Starting in 1966 in Gary, Indiana, Michael moves through Jackson’s life through 1988, which leave out a vast chunk of his career and, as some people would endlessly remind you, the controversies that defined the time up to his death in 2009–and beyond.
And that’s absolutely fair. To ignore the events – both confirmed and suspected – in those years seems disingenuous.
But before I comment any further on that, let’s talk about what the movie does and doesn’t succeed at.
Much like a couple of the most recent films involving legends, including Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, Michael plays with both the form and flow of it’s subject’s life.
Fuqua starts Michael off, in fact, by aping the style of Bohemian Rhapsody, with the audience watching Michael from behind approaching a stage under a raucous crowd, only to then jump back to 1966, before finishing with Michael coming onto the stage and performing his set.
Just like the Live Aid open/close of Bohemian Rhapsody.
So there’s that. Not very original, but hey, it worked once, it works here.
Colman Domingo as Joseph Jackson, at once a Jehovah’s Witness and
simultaneously an absolute task-master of a father, intent on driving his five sons to stardom and success “for the family,” is really chewing his screen-time with gusto.
In the best way.
His performance is reminiscent of Will Smith’s recent portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard. Sure it’s all “for the family,” but one member of the family seems to get a better deal than the others.
Isn’t there always, though?
We witness the boys being derided for not being “perfect” as they rehearse their act, a standard only Joseph can define, while Michael is repeatedly “whooped” with a belt for failing in Joseph’s for any deviation, real or imagined.
Throughout the runtime of the film, we are regaled with the greatest hits of the Jackson 5, and later Michael’s solo work.
Michael easily has the greatest soundtrack of any film you will see this year.
We are also treated to a mish-mash of situations in which we see Michael’s early urge to deal with children, especially those who are sick or injured, as well as his penchant for collecting exotic animals as pets, well before establishing his Neverland estate.
What is somewhat impressive is that, not only does Michael’s nephew, Jaafar, play the grown-up version of Michael, but that the members of the Jackson family are all involved in the making of the film in some capacity. Normally, that would make me leery of veracity of the project, but as I said, Michael doesn’t paper over the physical abuse Michael suffered or the emotional abuse the entire family suffered at Joseph’s hands.
But it does convince me that the reality was far worse, and this was included because it was so well known that to omit it would have brough its own set of controversy.
The studio has not said there is another film on the way which would conceivably move through the remainder of Michael’s life, and necessarily be forced to reckon with that, but the film does end with a simply statement: “his story continued.”
Would Fuqua, clearly a devotee of Michael, dare to make that film? If so, would it be the least damaging version of those events to Michael’s legacy or would he dig in and give it to the audience warts and all?
So Michael gives us a somewhat sanitized version of Michael’s life through 1988, but it is clearly far from complete. The most damning bit of evidence of it’s incomplete nature is the complete absence of Janet Jackson. She is never mentioned, though LaToya garners ample screen time in dealing with Michael as he tries to cope with both his existing fame as a member of the Jackson 5 and his burgeoning independence as both an artist and a human being.
Makes one wonder how quickly Janet distanced herself from this project, doesn’t it?
But here’s the thing: as someone who never considered himself a Michael Jackson fan, it is impossible to watch Michael and not acknowledge his musical genius, his impact, and even his essential Goodness, despite what came later.
Michael Jackson was a complex personality, damaged almost from birth, but also a person who desperately wanted to reclaim his own innocence while bringing joy to everyone he could.
It’s easy to demonize a man for his actions, and it is right to do so, generally speaking, but Michael is such a true conundrum of experiences and behaviors that simply saying “he was X” is impossible.
Our humanity forces us to look at things and attempt to make sense of them, to analyze and categorize them, but some things and people defy such easy diagnosis.
Michael Jackson was certainly fell into that category.
But as Michael spends over 2 hours reminding us, his musical genius is unquestionable, and the film is undeniably an entertaining big screen experience.
Michael moonwalks its way into theaters this Friday, April 24, and stars Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Juliano Valdi, Lafrenz Tate, Kendrick Sampson, and KeiLyn Durrel Jones.
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