Review: Michael J. Fox's memoir maintains humor
(Entertainment Weekly) -- When the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease are
at their worst, Michael J. Fox can't write. Or speak. Or stay still. With
medication, these effects can be masked for short periods. It's during
these times that he wrote "Lucky Man: A Memoir," the proceeds of which will
go to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Sounds like a
depressing read, right? Not so.
Through it all, Fox maintains his sly sense of humor. He acknowledges the
title's inherent irony, explaining that the degenerative neurological
condition has been a priority-setting gift to him, albeit a "gift that just
keeps on taking."
He recalls worrying that his fans would find him less amusing if he
disclosed his illness ("Can you laugh at a sick person without feeling like
an a------?") and shares darkly jocular anecdotes about battling to control
his quivering limbs in public settings ("Having Parkinson's at an auction
can be an expensive proposition").
Of course, the book doesn't deal exclusively with Fox's disease. He spends
much space, too much in fact, recounting his not-that-fascinating Canadian
childhood; an undersize child with big-star dreams, he felt torn between
his military-man dad's "battle-tested pragmatism" and his psychic grandma's
"idealistic belief in destiny." After achieving a modicum of fame as costar
of the Canadian sitcom "Leo & Me," he dropped out of high school and headed
for Hollywood.
Fox's subsequent ride on the celebrity roller coaster provides an
assortment of entertaining bits. He gets a callback for "Ordinary People,"
but director Robert Redford "seemed less than impressed by my reading; he
spent the audition flossing his teeth."
After Matthew Broderick turns it down (and over the initial objections of
creator Gary David Goldberg and NBC honcho Brandon Tartikoff), Fox wins the
role of teenage neoconservative Alex P. Keaton on "Family Ties."
'Family Ties,' creative conflicts
"Lucky Man" notably omits many details about his seven years on the hit
sitcom. Fox confirms his character wasn't supposed to be the show's focus
but doesn't report the reaction of his costars Meredith Baxter-Birney and
Michael Gross to being overshadowed by their TV son. He later admits to
falling out with Goldberg after they reunited on ABC's "Spin City" but
doesn't expound on their euphemistic "creative conflicts."
Fox is more forthcoming with memories of his movie career. In one painfully
funny passage, he's prevented by royal etiquette from making a much-needed
visit to the men's room while seated next to Princess Diana at "Back to the
Future's" London premiere ("Excuse me, Your Highness, I have to go wring
it' was not going to be the appropriate response").
He speculates on the motivation behind Cher's chilly reaction to meeting
him backstage at the 1986 Oscars: "Maybe it had something to do with my
being roughly the same height as Sonny." Fox also candidly documents such
incidents of on-location debauchery as downing cocktails of whiskey and
cobra blood while shooting Brian De Palma's Vietnam pic "Casualties of War"
in Thailand.
Spoiled in the '80s
Without naming names, Fox confesses to alley-catting around in the '80s
("As for the question, 'Does it bother you that maybe she just wants to
sleep with you because you're a celebrity?' My answer to that one was, 'Ah
... nope'").
In fact, the star doesn't flinch from depicting himself as a spoiled,
self-absorbed celebrity in the not too distant past: "I had agents, money
managers, personal assistants to handle most of the practical matters of
life -- I was far too busy (playing make-believe for a living) to do much
of anything for myself."
Yet with the aid of his wife (and former "Ties" love interest) Tracy
Pollan, a support group, and a Jungian shrink, Fox says he's been able to
clean up his act.
At times, therapyspeak threatens to overtake "Lucky Man" ("My
self-isolating behavior did nothing to invite disclosure"). But Fox, who
penned the book alone, has a savvy, smart-alecky voice of his own. "I was
the big news story over that holiday weekend," he writes of the
Thanksgiving '98 revelation of his illness. "My story, as we say in
showbiz, had legs."
Soon after, "20/20" aired Barbara Walters' interview with Fox. He recalls
his strategy for the announcement: "I had one goal in mind: to give an
honest account of how, over the last 7 years, I had integrated the disease
into a rich and productive life. It was important for me to convey my
optimism, gratitude, perspective, and even an ability to laugh about
certain aspects of life with P.D." Which, in the end, is a perfectly apt
description of what "Lucky Man" achieves.
Grade: B+
By Bruce Fretts
Entertainment Weekly
2002 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/04/08/ew.rec.book.fox/index.html
janet paterson: an akinetic rigid subtype, albeit perky, parky
pd: 55/41/37 cd: 55/44/43 tel: 613 256 8340 email: [log in to unmask]
smail: 375 Country Street, Almonte, Ontario, Canada, K0A 1A0
a new voice: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
