Michael - Movie Review
Long-haul flights within India are my personal screening rooms. The Dubai to Boston sector on Emirates last week, all 15-odd hours of it, could have practically been a film festival in the sky for me, though I managed to catch just one movie “Up in the Air”. That is how I finally watched Michael , the long-awaited biopic on the King of Pop. I had consciously avoided reviews. Films about legends carry the weight of expectation. I went in curious, but cautious. I was not prepared for what followed. The film opens into the world of Joe Jackson (Colman Domingo) — cold, controlling, and convinced that talent is something you beat into a child. Literally. There is a scene where young Michael gets thrashed with a belt, and I found myself gripping the armrest. It is not dramatised for shock. It is quiet, ugly, and real. I had to look away. Katherine Jackson (Nia Long) is the silent counterweight — loving, helpless, and heartbroken in equal measure. She holds the family together ...