A new Michael Jackson biopic raises a familiar question… do audiences actually want the truth, or just a great show?
This week, my co-host Sarah Hanlon and I unpack the new film Michael and the growing trend of biopics that trade accuracy for spectacle. When a story as complex as Michael Jackson’s gets streamlined into a crowd-pleasing concert experience, what gets lost… and does it even matter?
They explore the art vs. artist debate, the power of nostalgia, and why some cultural icons remain untouchable—no matter how complicated their legacy becomes.
It’s a conversation about storytelling, memory, and the uncomfortable space where fact and entertainment collide.
I sit with host Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about where people are getting their news, the first lady of “Heated Rivalry” fans, Bob Seger Bars and I review the musical biopic “Michael.”
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make your bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the biopic “Michael,” the grounded fairy tale “The Bearded Girl” and the action thriller “Fuze.”
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” to talk about the latest lawsuit regarding Amy Winehouse, why Sydney Sweeney was cut from “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and some other surprising stars who were excised from famous movies. Then, I review the new biopic “Michael” and suggest some cocktails top enjoy while watching the movie.
SYNOPSIS: Jaafar Jackson, son of Jackson 5 member Jermaine Jackson, and nephew to Michael Jackson, plays his King of Pop uncle in the flashy new biopic “Michael.”
CAST: Jaafar Jackson, Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Juliano Krue Valdi, Miles Teller, Colman Domingo. Directed by Antoine Fuqua.
REVIEW: Michael Jackson’s rise to fame and the accompanying tribulations are given a high gloss treatment in “Michael.” From the hardscrabble upbringing in Gary, Indiana and the Jackson 5 to a stratospheric solo career and the isolation of fame, it’s a Wikipedia page come to life and projected on the screen.
The front row seat to the life and (most of) the legacy of Michael Jackson (Juliano Krue Valdi as young Michael. Jaafar Jackson as adult Michael) begins with the well documented rise of the Jackson 5 and the physical and emotional abuse at the hand of Michael’s controlling father Joe (Colman Domingo). “Let me tell you something,” says Joe. “In this life, you’re either a winner or you’re a loser.”
The road to stardom begins when Motown founder Barry Gordy (Larenz Tate) signs the band and helps launch the Jackson 5 to national stardom.
From Joseph and Katherine Jackson’s (Nia Long) humble living room to MTV and the world’s biggest stages, Jackson grows up in public, personally and professionally, amid a swirl of triumphs and personal struggles.
Before you ask, yes, Bubbles makes an appearance in “Michael.” He’s a CGI version of the chimp once kept by Michael Jackson as a pet, but he feels about as real as anything else in this crowd-pleasingly tuneful but sanitized and safe biopic.
The story of triumph over adversity, of genius and creative vision, begins in a dark place. Joseph Jackson, father and manager of Michael Jackson and The Jacksons, played with malignant vigor by Colman Domingo, puts his five sons through their paces with the intensity of a Marine drill sergeant. These early, ugly scenes of abuse hit hard as young Michael is driven to perfection at the end of his father’s belt.
But what begins as a hard-hitting biography soon settles into a more familiar greatest hits style movie propped up by Jackson’s prodigious back catalogue of music. Director Antoine Fuqua, working from a clichéd script by John Logan, settles into authorized biography rhythm, highlighting Jackson’s many successes without ever going deep.
In the film’s final half hour, Fuqua decides to give up on the story completely. “Michael,” much to the delight of the audience I saw thew film with, shifts from biopic to concert film with several show-stopping performances from Jaafar Jackson.
Jackson, who spent two years training for the role, nails his paternal uncle’s physicality, especially in the elaborate musical numbers, like the dramatization of the making of the “Thriller” video, and concert scenes.
A replication of the electrifying debut of M.J.’s moonwalk on the “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” special is almost as exciting as it was when Michael did it in 1983. It’s a blast of loud and proud nostalgia that plays really well in IMAX, as do most of the musical performances.
What’s missing is insight. It’s all uplift as Michael, robbed of his childhood, finds his way through the world, shedding the influence of his father in favor of charting his own course to superstardom.
As with other authorized music biographies like “Elvis” or “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the story’s rough edges are mostly shaved away. The thorny issue of the 1993 sexual assault allegation was addressed in the film’s original cut but had to be scrapped due to a legal agreement with the accuser’s family. According to the Wall Street Journal, a sequel is already in the works for 2027 or 2028 that will address those allegations.
Jackson was a complicated figure, but the movie isn’t interested in exploring those complications in a meaningful way.
We see close-ups of his favorite book, a children’s picture book of “Peter Pan.” We learn of his admiration for Charlie Chaplin but virtually nothing about his relationship with his brothers, who are treated like extras in the story, the evolution of his signature fashion style or the inspiration for his songs, save for “Thriller,” which seems to have been initiated by Vincent Price’s “House of Wax.” Janet Jackson fans may also be left wondering why there is no mention of her.
“Michael” is beyond lightweight. It’s a “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” style music bio, except for when it is in motion; singing and dancing. As a biography, it’s a pretty good concert film. The musical numbers are terrific, nicely performed by Jaafar Jackson, whose mimicry of his uncle’s signature moves is spot on. These sequences are head-turners and should please fans looking for a blast of in-your-face nostalgia.
Michael Jackson is one of the biggest selling performers of all time, and one of the most documented, so perhaps there aren’t any revelations to be had seventeen years after his death. But it is a shame that the adventurous spirit that characterized the superstar’s best work is missing from the film.
SYNOPSIS: Set in the afterlife, “Eternity,” a new supernatural rom com starring Miles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen, and now playing in theatres, sees a woman forced to make a decision between her two loves, the man she was married to for 65 years or her first love who died young. “This is the junction,” says afterlife coordinator Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). “Where you choose one place to spend eternity and who to spend it with.”
CAST: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, John Early, Olga Merediz, Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Directed by David Freyne.
REVIEW: A romcom filtered through a “Twilight Zone” sensibility, “Eternity” is a whimsical but emotional story of an impossible choice between lost and found love.
When we first meet Joan and Larry, played by Betty Buckley and Barry Primus, they’ve been married for 65 years. When Larry drops dead at a gender reveal party, he enters the afterlife junction, a kitschy 1960s pop art stopover, confused as to how he got there and why he now looks like Miles Teller. “When you get here your form reverts to your happiest self,” says his afterlife coordinator Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). “It can be any age.”
Anna tells him he has one week to figure out where he’d like to spend eternity and with whom. When Joan, now played by Elizabeth Olsen, arrives days later, Larry assumes the two will spend eternity as they spent their lives, together. “Now we can finally have that holiday, but it’s a one and done thing,” he tells her. “They’re very strict on that here. If you want to go to the mountains we can, because the cold won’t kill us now.”
Trouble is, Joan’s first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died in the war, is also there, and has been waiting for her for decades. “Let me explain exactly what’s happening to my client,” Joan’s afterlife coordinator Ryan (John Early) says, whisking her away. “She clearly has a tough decision to make.”
Placed against a backdrop of the afterlife junction, the colorful gateway to forever, “Eternity” is a metaphysical romance that feels grounded in real emotion. The terrific cast bring both humor and heartache to the high concept story, keeping it light, while diving deep into Joan, Larry and Luke’s relationship.
It’s a tricky balance to juggle humor, some definitely of the slapstick variety, and existential romance, but director David Freyne never fumbles. The mid-section loses the giddy good fun of the opening scenes, relying on flashbacks and soul searching as the characters grapple with what exactly the vow “Til death do us part” means but, even then, the bureaucratic Randolph and Early do the comedic heavy lifting.
“Eternity’s” story of making choices and finding closure tackles heavy topics but never loses its charm and playfulness.
SYNOPSIS: In “The Gorge,” a new thriller now streaming on Apple TV+, Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller star as elite snipers, one Lithuanian, one American, posted for a yearlong hitch as guards on either side of a deep gorge. “Do we need to stop people from going on the gorge?” asks Levi (Teller). “No,” comes the reply. “You need to stop what’s in the gorge from coming out.”
CAST: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver, Sope Dirisu, William Houston. Directed by Scott Derrickson.
REVIEW: A mix of science fiction, horror, action with a dollop of romance (it’s coming out on Valentine’s Day after all), the genre-bending “The Gorge” is about two mad, bad and dangerous people who fall in love. Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Levi (Miles Teller) are star crossed lovers, but before they can be together, they must first battle some zombie-ish baddies.
Director Scott Derrickson throws every genre in book at “The Gorge” but at the end, after the sci fi, horror, conspiracy, action and more, this is a story of soulmates finding one another. The other stuff, the sharp shooting and monster action, is set dressing. Pretty cool set dressing, but set dec nonetheless. The leap across the gorge, isn’t just a feat of derring-do, It’s a leap of romantic faith.
It’s a daring mix, that sometimes feels like a jigsaw puzzle with too many pieces.
Surprisingly, it’s the romance that carries the day. The initial long-distance flirting—remember there is a huge gorge separating them—is goofy, but lighthearted. They hold up signs and dance, and while it isn’t perhaps exactly the kind of behavior you expect from two highly trained killers, it works. Even snipers can get smitten.
When all hell breaks loose—literally—“The Gorge” loses some of its uniqueness, even though the action sequences are large scale and well staged.
The creature designs, kind of a cross between Groot and a Yeti are cool and achieved through makeup and costumes. It gives the fight scenes a dynamic feel and heightens the stakes. Drasa and Levi aren’t battling CGI creations, they’re fighting creatures that feel organic.
At its heart, however, “The Gorge” isn’t really just a creature feature. It’s big budget actioner about human connection, but when it is running, jumping, shooting etc, it feels less inventive than it does when it focusses on the simple stuff, like the bond between two people who have searched for love.
I compare the experience of watching “Spiderhead,” a new psychological prison thriller starring Chris Hemsworth, Jurnee Smollett and Miles Teller and now streaming on Netflix, with going to a nice restaurant with a dirty bathroom. The food, service and atmosphere are top notch, but go to the restroom after dinner and if it’s dirty, that’s what you’ll remember most about your visit.
Such is the fate of “Spiderhead,” a movie that makes a good impression right up until the final minutes.
Hemsworth is visionary Steve Abnesti, a chemist who runs Spiderhead, a remote penal institution where his experimental, mind-altering drugs are tested on inmates. Prisoners live in beautiful cells that resemble hip hotel rooms and eat gourmet food. There are no bars on the doors and not a single orange jumpsuit in sight. “Your presence in this facility,” says Abnesti, “while technically a punishment, is a privilege.”
In return for the relaxed rules and relative luxury of the prison, inmates are equipped with a module or Mobi-Pak containing mood altering drugs. Administered by the amiable Abnesti, these concoctions are part of a larger study analyze the effects of manipulating emotions. “Our work will save lives,” says Abnesti. “Not just one life, many lives. We’re making the world a better place.”
Inmate Jeff (Teller) is Abnesti’s go to guinea pig. The pair have a special bond forged over a shared belief that the inmate experiments are for the good of all humanity. But when Jeff is forced into partaking in a cruel drug trial, he suspects his trust has been misplaced. “The time to worry about crossing lines,” Abnesti says, “was a lot of lines ago.”
Based on the New Yorker short story “Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders, the film explores moral dilemmas and the ethical quandary of exerting control over the powerless for personal gain. The very idea of forced injections is an even bigger hot button topic than when Saunders wrote the short story.
So why did I feel like I just left a dirty bathroom as the end credits rolled?
It’s the recency theory. The last thing you see is the thing that makes the lasting impression and “Spiderhead,” despite an interesting premise, some good performances and a growing atmosphere of apprehension and mistrust, rushes the ending to the point where you wonder if the filmmakers ran out of film, time or interest in the story. Tonally, the all-of-a-sudden action packed ending feels tacked on and uninspired.
Ultimately, “Spiderhead” disappoints because it gets so much right, but, in the end, doesn’t trust the idea-driven story to satisfy.
