'Michael Jackson's This Is It': But It Is Always There
 Popcorn Columnby Michael S. Goldberger
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 Columbia Pictures
'This Is It' reveals the maestro, but Michael Jackson remains mystifying to the end. |
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Expect no plot or story, except for what you might read into this well-edited batch of recent remembrances as Mr. Jackson readies for his much anticipated, 50-date "This Is It" concert tour. Indeed, appearances are deceiving. A first impression is how well he looks. Credit an air of command and perfect posture for belying his only 5-foot-10 frame.
Fact is, he's a giant to the young hopefuls who, a la "Chorus Line," pray that they'll make the cut and become a part of what is then immediately touted as family. Kisses are blown and hugs gestured. Being a sycophant is A-OK. Of course this instant loyalty and reverence is more stage-speak than a reflection on Jackson's management style.
But from what we are shown here, though it may be a bit of self-serving prestidigitation, it's Kenny Ortega, the journeyman choreographer ("Dirty Dancing") and concert tour director, who anticipates and relays his boss's every creative desire. He appears in charge.
Only Kenny can exchange banter with Michael, and then it's always about business.
So call us cynics. We know very well where the power lies and dare surmise that Jacko's dictums to his concert guru are whispered off camera. Likewise, nothing of real pungency is exchanged between any of the documentary's dramatis personae. And yet they're all into the love. That's right, it's about the love, and the music, and the love.
Oh, and about the dancing, too, which, after all, is also about the love. One hesitates to opine it's also about the Benjamins, as that might seem a bit Philistine considering the tireless dedication suffusing each frame. There's no denying Jackson & Co. reach for every bit of creativity they can summon. The husbanding of talent is simply dazzling.
Assembled for the tour that, alas, never was, the troupe seems destined to become the song-and-dance counterpart of the Air Force Thunderbirds, so great is their execution and attention to detail. Holding court on stage, MJ issues subtleties. Kenny interprets each nuance with a knowing nod. It seems so indiscernible, but not to them.
And that's showbiz, Michael Jackson style. Which leads us to the drug thing. While doubtless exaggerated ever since the first court jester sought confidence in a goblet of wine, it is nonetheless probable that more members of the artistic community have bolstered their nerve with assorted pharmaceuticals than, let us say, air traffic controllers.
The often sadly true cliche, struck to template by Fredric March in "A Star is Born" (1937), is a complex, deeply personal syndrome. However, from watching Jackson's tightly wound demeanor in rehearsal, you become wary of the mechanical single-mindedness: no jesting, no personal disclosure and, most tellingly, no true joie de vie.
The incorporation of distinctly wooden soldier moves in the sweepingly lavish stage numbers hints at paradox. While art ideally offers a tabula rasa for limitless ambitions and boundless dreams, here there is always a token of military discipline. The amateur shrink in you wonders if this is Michael's poetic way of lamenting his lost childhood.
So yep, he took drugs and apparently died from an overdose. "But enough," we scold. We'd like to be better than the yellow press: objective and merciful if not understanding. Still, unless you're a starstruck fan completely blinded by the glitter, cachet and magic, it's always there, the plethora of unanswered questions, all too weird to be dismissed.
I think it was Henry Miller ("Tropic of Cancer") who asked that he be judged not by his personal life but by his works, offering that we would otherwise be disappointed. Well, duh. Sorry if we can't always issue that pass. Even if someone as irreplaceable as Jonas Salk were implicated in a major indiscretion, we wouldn't expect society to turn its head.
Granted, MJ was a bona fide superstar, a class that, via some perverse sociology, has assumed status as America's royalty. And this movie reaffirms his musical majesty, showing him at the top of his game. But without a little candid insight tossed into the entertaining but one-dimensional mix, "Michael Jackson's This Is It" just isn't all that.
"Michael Jackson's This Is It," rated PG, is a Columbia Pictures release directed by Kenny Ortega and stars Michael Jackson, Kenny Ortega and the “This Is It” concert troupe. Running time: 112 minutes
