Michael

I’m conflicted about the Michael Jackson movie. Every time I start to write, the words come out sounding like a Shakespearean monoglue. O brawling love, O loving hate. Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical. Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health. I feel nothing but contradictions.

On one hand, I despise the musician biopics that plague modern cinema, and Michael does nothing to avoid the cliches that I know and loathe. It glides through Jackson’s childhood and early career, rarely daring to skim the surface of the trauma and exploitation that informed this period of his life. Jafar Jackson is convincing enough as the Michael we know, but that’s just the problem - it’s only the Michael we know, and he’s offered little opportunity to portray a side of his uncle beyond that. It’s toothachingly sugarcoated, timid in the face of controversy, and almost childish in its innocence. It reads more like a highlight reel of his most iconic moments.

On the other hand, it reads like a highlight reel of his most iconic moments, and Michael Jackson is fucking awesome. I feel a little bit like a kid getting entertained by jingling keys, but instead of jingling keys it’s Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, and honestly, who doesn’t miss the simplicity of being a kid sometimes? I could watch paint dry to this music and have a more than enjoyable time. It’s Michael hit after Michael hit, which doesn’t make for the most fascinating or even competent film, but it’s far from a bad time. It’s not far off from my average bus commute, but with a more comfortable seat and some visual accompaniment. And I can’t in good conscience hate anything with Colman Domingo. He's doing terrific as always.

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