Some of my earliest memories involve Michael Jackson (Jaafar Jackson).  One of them includes being roughly six years old and seeing my sister and her childhood best friend strutting up the street, boombox on the shoulder, listening to “Thriller.”  That song, which gave its name to the album on which is premiered (1982), freaked me out as a child.  I am a cradle Catholic, and back then my family actually cared about my spiritual upbringing.  Witnessing Michael turn into a zombie is scary for a little kid, regardless of Faith.  As I aged, I came to appreciate the undeniable quality of his music, which made me anticipate the film.  Unfortunately, what I got was a two-hour long music video.

Alternatively, we begin with Michael about to perform a concert following the release of his 1987 album, Bad.  How he gets to this point is the subject of the rest of the film.  Hence, we actually start in 1966 in the cold, industrial town of Gary, Indiana.  Instead of allowing his children to have a normal upbringing, Michael’s domineering father, Joseph Jackson (Colman Domingo), is trying to mold his five sons into what will become the mega-popular group known as The Jackson 5.  “Domineering” might be an overused word, but it fits.  For example, Michael refers to him as Joseph instead of dad.  Joseph requires his boys to rehearse when they should be in bed preparing for school, and is quick to use the belt on Michael whenever the kid does what kids do.  Despite Michael suffering from a lack of interaction with his peers, he enjoys singing, dancing, and performing.  He is also gifted, and the talent garners increasing crowds and attention during their performances.  It does not take long for record deals to come for the band, with Suzanne de Passe (Laura Harrier) of Motown Records being on hand for one of their concerts.  Without any further ado, the Jacksons are brought to Los Angeles to begin recording.  While in the studio, Joseph encounters his first challenge to the tight grip he has on his sons, especially Michael.  As they lay down one of Michael’s track, Motown executive and founder, Berry Gordy (Larenz Tate), has trouble with Michael’s penchant for moving around during his vocalizations.  Joseph is about to go into the booth and potentially physically assault the boy, but Berry intercedes.  After the session, Michael is hugging Berry, something Joseph never experienced in this spontaneous manner.  From there, The Jackson 5 embark on a grueling touring schedule that launches them all into stardom, but mostly Michael.  Hence, by the late 1970s, the now young adult Michael is ready to set out on a solo career.  The potential roadblock is Joseph.  The company that is trying to sign Michael to his first individual deal is CBS.  In meeting with CBS executives, Michael requests that they deal with Joseph, something that the young artist does more than once.  Joseph gives his assent, but only so long as the rising star understands that from 9 to 5, Michael belongs to the family.  This means that Michael must make his music on his own time, but the result is the mega-hit record Off the Wall (1979).  It is at this point that he becomes more recognizable as himself rather than being a member of his family.  This requires new representation, and this is when he is introduced to John Branca (Miles Teller).  John is an entertainment lawyer who has represented a number of big names, but what catches Michael’s attention is the attorney’s assurance that he can make the musician the greatest of all time.  John gets off to a good beginning by faxing Joseph a note saying that dad is fired as Michael’s manager.  This move gives Michael the freedom he has been craving to create Thriller.  There is a lot of attention dedicated to the album’s production, and the film loses direction in this sequence.  If seeing the details of the behind the scenes of how the music is made, then this might be interesting for you.  For this reviewer, it loses the thread of the ongoing struggle with Joseph.  Eventually, Michael’s father finds a way to get his superstar son back into the family fold.  After meeting with famed boxing promoter Don King (Deon Cole), Joseph comes up with a new tour for The Jackson 5 to sell Pepsi products, but Michael must be involved.  Michael loves his family, and agrees to be a part of the program.  However, as they are filming one of the shows, an accident with the pyrotechnics lights his hair on fire and he is rushed to the hospital.  The prognosis is not the best, with the burns requiring constant medication to fight the pain.  Joseph essentially wants Michael to return immediately to the stage despite the injury.  It is Joseph’s wife, Katherine Scruse-Jackson (Nia Long), who reminds Joseph that it is Michael that has to make these decisions.  She reiterates this message to Michael.  Even though he is feeling empowered, he decides to go back to performing with his brothers.  Still, he uses his time on stage to close the concert with a major announcement: this will be his last show with The Jackson 5.  He does so with Joseph watching, stunned, just off stage.  Without saying a word, Michael walks past Joseph backstage.  With that, we conclude in 1988 with Michael performing the title song to Bad in London.

There is a lot of performing in Michael.  As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, the film gets lost in all the time spent in showing how the eponymous artist came up with some of the most popular music of all time.  The comment I made to my girlfriend while in the theater was that it was like we were watching Michael’s Wikipedia page made into a film.  She later told me that, while using the facilities afterwards, she overheard other audience members talking about how there is going to be a follow up to this one.  In doing a little more research on the movie, it appears that they shot over four hours of usable footage, forcing them to break it into two segments.  What I also read is that the follow up is supposed to have the more controversial aspects of Michael’s life.  This Catholic is here to tell you that life is not as rosy as you see here.  Of course, this is not to say that everything is perfect for Michael.  Joseph is definitely a monster, but we lose focus of that fact throughout the proceedings.  What would have been nice would have been to see Michael’s obsession with being perfect connected to Joseph’s treatment.  The problem with having such a dedication is that only God is perfect, and trying to attain it only leads to frustration.  The movie shows this with him getting plastic surgery to make his nose smaller.  When you combine that with the success that Michael enjoys, it means that one can miss the warning signs that God can show us.  Because this is history, we know that the injury is the beginning of a downward spiral for Michael despite the popularity of Bad.

What is less bad about Michael is what the star does with his platform.  I have already talked about overused words, and “platform” is another one.  These days, every celebrity seems to use their fame for a cause, some worthwhile, others not so great.  It would be wonderful if more of them would contribute to the Church, but it is probably not surprising that I would have such a wish.  Regardless, Michael has the right thoughts when it comes to his fortune and notoriety, saying that God has been good to him.  Specifically, he sees all that he has obtained as a Divine gift, which is the attitude a Catholic could hope for from such a person.  Still, there have been others who have expressed their gratitude to the Almighty for the incredible gifts they have been given.  What is sometimes less apparent is how they make good on that gratitude for those blessings.  With Michael, he takes every opportunity to visit sick kids, including doing so while he is in the hospital recovering from his burns.  Incidentally, being present to people in such situations is what the Church refers to as a corporal act of mercy.  What also appears to concern Michael is violence in society.  His song “Beat It” is portrayed as being his attempt to be a peace maker.  I say that because leading up to the making of the music video, we see him being affected by news footage of gang violence in Los Angeles.  I am not sure this aspect of the story works well, but Jesus does say in Matthew 5:9 that blessed are the peace makers.

It is good to at least attempt to be a peace maker as Michael does, but it would be inaccurate to say that he is successful, unfortunately.  Indeed, unlike much of what the real-life musician did, the movie about his life is unsuccessful.  If you want to pay $20 to listen to his music in a movie theater, then go for it.  Otherwise, there is always YouTube.