Going Back to the Future
Michael J. Fox shines as a writer
The film Back to the Future had a plethora of struggles before it made it to the big screen in 1985. I’m one of millions of fans worldwide that are happy it made it through the maze of issues that almost forced it to be sent to whatever dingy movie vault half-made films go to be interred. In Future Boy, actor Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry tell about those speed bumps, including almost having actor Eric Stoltz play the role of Marty McFly.
Say what?
The full title of the book is a mouthful. Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-time Continuum.
It lives up to its title. Narrated with the strong voice of Marty McFly - I mean Michael J. Fox! - the book details the making of Back to the Future, but also how he acted to help create the iconic film while at the same time playing Alex P. Keaton in the popular TV sitcom Family Ties. His descriptions of his near-24 hours per day of acting are clear evidence of his drive to act and become a star.
Back to the Future proved his acting chops and grabbed stardom for him.
Part of what makes the book interesting are Fox’s descriptions of costars: Christopher Lloyd (as Doc), Lea Thompson (as Marty’s mother Lorraine McFly), Crispin Glover (as father George McFly), and Tom Wilson (as the bully Biff Tanner). Fox writes they almost became the characters they were portraying. That fits with my repeated viewings over the years.
In those scenes where Marty confronts Biff Tanner? Fox writes that if it seemed particularly real, it’s because he channeled himself. He faced bullies all through school years and still as a diminutive sized adult. So facing down Biff - and making Biff a laughingstock of the town - came quite naturally.
Throughout the book, readers get a good look at how films and television programs are really made, too. Nothing scandalous pops out. But reading how the time sequences and scenes are shot out of order - and then get spliced together - shows how clever the techs have to be. The magic of movie making, right?
The music in Back to the Future - almost as famous as the film itself - was a treat. But the iconic scene of Fox playing Johnny B. Goode almost didn’t make it. (Reading that made me gasp.) But Fox’s wild guitar action has proven to be favorite part of the movie for many viewers, he wrote. Here’s a link to the pivotal scene: Johnny B. Goode
There’s nothing in Future Boy about Fox’s battles with Parkinson’s. It didn’t need to be mentioned, because in Back to the Future, Michael J. Fox - aka Marty McFly - is and will be immortal as a time-traveling, guitar-playing, wise-cracking skateboard-master.
We should all go back to the future.