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Glenn Gamboa

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Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' heartbreakingly successful

Wednesday October 28, 2009 7:59 AM By Glenn Gamboa

    If he were still alive, Michael Jackson would never have let “This Is It” see the light of day. Maybe that’s why it’s so unexpectedly heartwarming and surprisingly special.
    As the King of Pop, Jackson was all about projecting a larger-than-life image to the public, managing, as much as he could, a musical persona that was the product of meticulous creation and tireless work. It was deserved, for the most part, but it was also a bit off-putting, as he unveiled propaganda-styled statues of himself and seemingly styled himself as the military dictator of some glittery, sequined country.
    “This Is It” – directed by his longtime collaborator Kenny Ortega, who was also directing the planned comeback at London’s O2 Arena in July and calls the movie a “sacred documentation of our leader and friend” – lovingly strips away all of Jackson’s public artifice as he prepares for the tour. The movie leaves us with something we have never seen before – a look at Michael Jackson, the man and, more importantly, the musician.
    The 120 hours of behind-the-scenes footage whittled down to two hours offers an idea of how Jackson’s mind works. He sings bass lines to his musicians, offers notes on timing and approach to has background singers and tweaks the rhythms of his hits for maximum effect onstage. He also knows instinctively where to insert dramatic pauses – time to “sizzle,” he says – and how to achieve the lighting and musical cues that will work best with the crowd.
    When Ortega asks how Jackson would be able to know when the filmed introduction to “Smooth Criminal,” which amazingly features Jackson in a gunfight with Humphrey Bogart, ends if his back is to the screen, Jackson matter-of-factly responds, “I’ll feel it.”
    After watching “This Is It,” you know he would feel it.
    After watching “This Is It,” you also know this comeback would have worked for him. Jackson was planning a massive extravaganza, with Broadway-styled backdrops and production numbers for nearly every song, that, in its own way, was too big to fail.
The movie also makes it clear that Jackson was in good health and good spirits in the weeks leading up to his death. His focus and determination showed that he was certainly the boss of this production and that he knew exactly what he wanted.
    “This Is It” makes no mention of Jackson’s death from an overdose of a powerful anesthetic that helped him sleep in June. There’s really no need for it – the movie is meant to be an upbeat celebration of Jackson’s musical genius and it succeeds at that.
    The only sadness comes in knowing that Jackson never got to realize his comeback and that we all never got to see it. “This Is It” is a thrilling, poignant movie, but also a heartbreaking reminder of what could have been.