Cook review: ‘Still’ is a moving documentary

Even if you’ve never seen a Michael J. Fox movie, this documentary will touch your heart.

“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” shows the actor –  known for decades of television and film work, from his role as Alex P. Keaton on the hit series “Family Ties” to the Marty McFly character in the “Back to the Future” movies – in his everyday life. As the biopic unfolds, Academy-Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”) cleverly intersperses segments of his movies – along with some reenacted moments, photos and family footage  – to parallel actual events.

Fox, with brutal honesty and a wry sense of humor, discusses how and why he kept the secrets of his Parkinson’s diagnosis hidden for so many years.

Parkinson’s, as you may know, is a brain condition that can manifest in shaking, imbalance and stiffness in the limbs. The average age for people to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s is about 60.

Fox, now 62, was only 29 at the time of his diagnosis. “I’m not pathetic,” he maintains. The movie goes on to show viewers exactly why that is true.

“I was not someone who was supposed to get this,” he says. Like so many other people, Fox thought Parkinson’s affected mostly older people.

He discusses ways he kept his tremors hidden when he was on camera. Meanwhile, the documentary camera doesn’t shy away from Fox’s day-to-day life: We see him with a bruise after injuring himself in a fall. We see him struggle to keep walking. We watch him fall.

You’ll see beautiful moments of Fox with his family, including his wife, Tracy Pollan. And you’ll probably laugh a lot more than you might think.

This film is inspiring, funny, and smart …. just like the actor himself.

4 stars

Streaming on Apple TV+

Running time: One hour and 35 minutes.

Watch the trailer here.