‘Still’ a moving and creative portrait of Michael J. Fox

As a regular fixture on movie and television screens throughout the 80s and 90s, Michael J. Fox long ago cemented his pop culture legacy. Starring in one of the best movies of all time certainly helped (Yes, “Back to the Future,” but let’s give a little love to “Teen Wolf” as well), and his mantle includes five Emmys for his work on television, most notably on “Family Ties” and “Spin City.”

He also dodged “Teen Wolf Too.” That’s an accomplishment.

For 25 years, Fox has been far more than a well-liked Hollywood actor. Since going public with his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in 1998, Fox has become an influential and powerful advocate, raising more than a billion (with a B) dollars for Parkinson’s research.

The disease has taken its toll, with Fox officially retiring from acting in 2021. In the new Apple documentary “Still,” Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth,” “Waiting for ‘Superman’”) makes creative use of Fox’s varied filmography to tell the story of the actor’s life, anchored by an intimate and candid collection of interviews with Fox as he works to combat worsening physical symptoms of his condition. It’s a brisk and compelling portrait that rises above the standard celebrity biopic.

Many “life-story” docs use archival footage as visual supplements to its interview packages. Here, Guggenheim uses a wide variety of clips from Fox’s TV and movie credits to forward the story. While Fox tells his story chronologically, the footage bounces all over the actor’s work to convey the emotions and thoughts that Fox shares in his interviews. We don’t just see a clip from “Family Ties;” we see a clip that better connects with what Fox is discussing about his personal life. What begins as cute editing choices evolves into a more narratively cohesive storytelling strategy as Fox leads out of the Hollywood-Boy-Next-Door-Superstar Days and into the devastating fallout after learning about his diagnosis.

For anyone who grew up watching and loving Fox on screen, the moments of “Still” that depict his current situation can be wrenching, though Fox’s tenacity, wit and compassion routinely overtake the tone of the film. Fox, at one point, is reminded by his physical therapist that it’s OK for him to “not be Michael J. Fox” from time-to-time, and that he can admit to the pain he’s experiencing. Fox admits the pain… but only for a few seconds.

Fox shares details both harrowing and hilarious from all aspects of his life, and for that “Still” sustains a lighthearted energy through its speedy 90-minute runtime. His interactions with his wife and children are spare-but-genuine, but Fox holds the frame so compellingly on his own, the movie rarely needs an outside source to examine its subject. There is rarely a frame without Fox’s face in it, with every second of it compelling.

Guggenheim’s craft, combined with the sheer charisma of Fox, make “Still” a contemplative, deeply funny and genuinely moving experience. Fans of the actor will adore it, and, for the rare person who isn’t already a fan, they’ll surely become one in 90 minutes or less.

“Still” is currently streaming on Apple TV+.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.