Review: This Is It

This Is It is about Michael Jackson and his music. And through his work we get glimpses of his humanity.

I saw This Is It at a Sunday matinee with my sister, niece and mother. We waited in line to see the film, and by the time the lights dimmed, the theater was full. Children hushed, phones went to silent, and the woman sitting two seats away leaned forward against the rail as if she would be able to more fully experience Michael Jackson this way.

This film is, of course, a final farewell to the King of Pop. But there is no sadness here. Only a celebration of what made Michael Michael.

The film opens with "confessionals" from dancers preparing to rehearse. They're all overcome with just the possibility of performing with him, though they've yet to be selected. This opening vignette offers the films only tears. But these tears are filled with optimism, some hope.

Then we watch what would have been. Michael choreographing dance numbers. Michael singing and dancing in jeans and blazers, and once in sweats. We watch Michael the perfectionist correcting his musical director, at one point telling the man: "I want it the way I wrote it." He's talking about the opening of "The Way You Make Me Feel" here, and the musical director isn't getting it. In another memorable scene, a frustrated Michael takes his ear piece out and complains to the show director that volume is so high "it's like someone's shoving a fist in my ear."

And despite reports that he had lost it (a newspaper claimed he'd lost his voice and could barely dance anymore), Michael does it all. Rewrites melodies to some of his best tunes, goes to church at the end of "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," and the dancers and crew members go crazy! And so does the audience at Aventura AMC 24.

Bottom line: If you weren't a fan, this ain't for you. If you were a fan, there's nothing here you won't like. It's a celebration of a body of work that has withstood tabloids, scandal, macabre news reports about autopsy photos and the like. It's about a man who lived, from the time he was five, for music and entertainment. We know based on published reports and a family biopic that the road was never easy. We witnessed a decade of decline in general public image. But here, with this film, we're reminded that despite it all, there was -- there is -- his music.

Undeniably, hands down, the most important pop culture figure of the 20th century.