Jackson's "This is It" Would Have Been It

This summer was supposed to see a Michael Jackson comeback concert. As the entire world knows, Mr. Jackson didn't make it to July, dying of a drug overdose that still confuses people. However, Kenny Ortega, the director of the stage shows, filmed about 100 hours of rehearsals, and he has boiled that down to two. The result is called "This is It." Based on the footage released, the concert would have been something else. As it is, his fans will have to make due with a movie that hints at what might have been.

The entire film is difficult to watch without occasionally getting a sense of foreboding. As in a Greek tragedy, the audience knows that the hero is doomed from the start. Mr. Jackson is seen working his heart out for a show he will not live to perform. However, there is enough going on and the editing is well paced enough that one doesn't think about the performer's death for very long.

In addition to rehearsals, the film has interviews with the people who worked with Mr. Jackson on the show, but not with him. Dancers from Australia and Holland flew into California for auditions, and they each attest to the power he had over other people to inspire. The musicians with whom he worked clearly admired just how well he understood music and performance (and the two are not the same).

Michael Bearden, the musical director of the piece, says to the camera that he needs a hands-on artist, and Mr. Jackson was very hands on. He added that the star was a perfectionist. That could have made him a complete pain with which to work. Yet Mr. Jackson clearly says at two or three different places in the film, "That's why we rehearse." That said, there is one scene in which he is having trouble with his earpiece, and Mr. Ortega asks about the problem in such a tone that one suspects a tantrum of some sort could have been one wrong word away.

The movie offers not-quite-performance level peeks at various hits from the singer's 40 year career. The crew filmed new footage for numerous songs including "Smooth Criminal" and "Thriller," which would have been in 3-D. Above all, one gets the clear impression that the 50 shows slated for London were more than an act of financial desperation for the star. In all the interviews, in all the magazine articles, Mr. Jackson didn't smile as freely or as much as he does on stage in this film. It was where he was truly happy.

The show would have been a Las Vegas-type revue on steroids and growth hormone. Pyrotechnics to start, and dancing and singing for a couple of hours on sets that constantly changed. Yet in all of it, the focus would be on a rather lonely 50-year-old whose life started out plain and evolved in ever odder patterns. It is a rare performer who can get people to watch rehearsals. One of the great understatements about Mr. Jackson, though, was that he was rare, unique in the truest sense of the word. "This is It" merely reminds the fans what the world lost.

© Copyright 2009 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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