People throw around the phrase, “There was a time when…”, regarding remembrances of days past. Well, there WAS a time when Michael Jackson ruled the world of music and was rightfully crowned, “The King of Pop.” With Antoine Fuqua’s electrifying biopic Michael, we are reminded that the singer’s kingly moniker was not just for “a time”, as Jackson’s is a legacy that will stand tall until the Earth takes its final turn.
As a music biopic, Michael can’t escape the trappings of genre clichés. Most great artists are tortured and their personal struggles can make for great cinema. By now, the depictions of family battles and overbearing parents seem to have played out their emotional wallop. In Fuqua’s film, these scenes work, but their success comes in spite of a screenplay that is occasionally sanitized.
Surprisingly, John Logan’s script paints a good deal of the drama with a simplistic brush. Logan lets down the Jackson family by crafting certain lines of dialogue that sound pulled from an ABC Afterschool Special. These moments manage to land because the performers work hard to sell the sometimes perfunctory lines. One would imagine something stronger from the writer of Any Given Sunday, The Aviator, and Gladiator.
The battles between Michael Jackson and his abusive, self-serving, father are an ugly history that shadowed the singer for the rest of his days.
A somewhat unrecognizable Coleman Domingo continues to prove himself as one of our finest actors. The man fuels every performance with intensity and realism. As Joe Jackson, Domingo is a frightening powerhouse as the family patriarch who uses his sons (especially Michael) for his own financial and personal gains. Domingo understands how Joe Jackson was dangerously abusive and emotionally shattered. His performance has even the viewers on the edge, as no one knows when this unstable man will explode. Domingo uses his extreme closeups to great effect, focusing a deep stare that speaks volumes onto his fellow actors. Sometimes chilling, other times pathetic, Joe Jackson was father and husband, protector and abuser. Eventually, he would become the devil that would wreck son Michael’s psyche. Coleman Domingo inhabits every crooked inch with supreme dedication.
The film begins at the moment where The Jackson 5 were beginning their ascent into the music world. Joe Jackson molds (with threats, belts, and an iron fist) the talents of his five sons. As poppa makes them perform on school nights to lively music venue crowds, the group gets noticed. Soon there are record deals and television performances as their songs dominate the charts. Michael’s mother Katherine (a wonderfully underplayed Nia Long) is a wife who fears her husband, but is more frightened of what he is doing to their boys. Her relationship with Michael is heartfelt and pure, as are their quietly rendered moments together.
We watch as young Michael falls in love with dancing via Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. Even the emotional impact of Charlie Chaplin films becomes a great influence. We bear witness to Michael’s growth as an artist and performer, while he remains stilted in his journey to adulthood. The film provides understanding into why Michael called his pets (and the many animals he would purchase in the future) his “friends.” Joe never allowed his son to play outside. For the Jackson boys, it was constant rehearsal.
There will be some who will accuse director Fuqua of glossing over a deeper examination of M.J.’s emotions and experiences. An argument can be made for the film showing us just enough. Every Michael Jackson fan (big or small) has long known the whys and wherefores of the Pop superstar’s demons. There is no need to stretch them out for shock value. Fuqua reveals just the right amount; a smart move. The film’s true intent is to show the troubled but caring soul of one of music’s greatest legends. Taking that angle, the film is a success.
As Michael moves from childhood fame with The Jackson 5, through his first solo album, 1979’s Off the Wall, and onto 1982’s unstoppable Thriller, the picture becomes a guided tour of the events that shaped Michael Jackson’s drive and star power. Every major career milestone gets screen time, including his near death experience when he was burned while shooting a Pepsi commercial.
Along the way we meet the people who helped Jackson find the unique artist within himself. Larenz Tate makes a mark as Berry Gordy, as does Kendrick Sampson as Quincy Jones, Deon Cole as Don King, and Miles Teller as John Branca, Jackson’s manager and agent who saw him as a person, rather than a commodity.
The slyest performance belongs to KeiLyn Durrel Jones as Michael’s bodyguard, Bill Bray. Bill is always there, but stays away from front and center, save for a few scenes. The excellent Jones conveys a lot through mere glances, as the man is forced to stand by and watch Jackson become a pawn and a product.
Juliano Krue Valdi is the young Michael, while Jaafar Jackson (son of Jermaine, nephew to Michael) is the older Jackson. Both performers do incredible work.
Young Valdi flawlessly executes Rich and Tone Talauega’s choreography. Offstage, the actor captures the sadness of a young boy who was never allowed to embrace being a kid.
Jaafar Jackson is out-of-this-world magnificent as his uncle. Jackson captures Michael’s awkward and shy demeanor while completely embodying the majesty and other-worldly talents of his stage performances. Taking full advantage of Deon Beebe’s lightning-bolt camerawork, the actor (and the film) bring the legend to full life. In diction, movement, expression, and more, there isn’t a false step in Jaafar Jackson’s incredible portrayal.
Is the film a “greatest hits” of Jackson’s rise to the superstar stratosphere? Of course. What makes it work, is Antoine Fuqua’s obvious respect and admiration for Michael Jackson. One can (rightfully) point fingers at the paper-thin narrative and how Logan’s script too-lightly touches the deeper family drama. What is undeniable is Fuqua’s love for his subject. The filmmaker understands that, whatever the controversies in his later life, Michael Jackson had a big heart that beat with love for the world entire.
The picture was approved and authorized by the Jackson estate, but this is not cinematic damage control. This is a family who wants the world to remember the peace and love Michael Jackson brought to everyone.
The film ends with the promise, “His Story Continues.” There just may be another film that covers that last half of his life and career. Is that film necessary? Who knows? That would be getting into the dangerous waters of tabloid fodder. Were Antoine Fuqua to return, perhaps true fans could find the closure that eluded them after Jackson’s shocking death in 2009 at only 50 years old.
For now, we have Michael Jackson’s story from childhood stardom to his meteoric rise to a music god. The picture ends with a breathtaking live performance of his monster hit, Bad; ending on a moment where Michael Jackson soared higher than any performer of his time. We say goodbye as the icon’s image burns like the fire of the sun.
How could such a broken soul fill the world with an abundance of pure love? Antoine Fuqua’s Michael will show you.
Tell them that it’s human nature.
Michael
Written by John Logan
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Starring Jaafar Jackson, Juliano Krue Valdi, Coleman Domingo, Nia Long, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Miles Teller
PG-13, 127 Minutes, Lionsgate
