Canadians have a reputation for being awfully nice people, so perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that Ryan Reynolds is showering his countryman Michael J. Fox with praise. But it turns out Reynolds is apparently a huge fan. Reynolds took to social media to drum up support for Fox’s newest endeavor, a film about his battle with Parkinson’s Disease, and also to give a shoutout to a Fox film many may not be as aware of The Frighteners.
Following a successful career in television and film Michael J, Fox has become the public face of Parkinson’s Disease and the battle against it. A new movie coming to Apple TV+, Still, will act as a sort of documentary/biopic that will tell his story from his own perspective. One person who is really looking forward to the movie is Ryan Reynolds. The actor came to Twitter to say that he apparently keeps all Michael J. Fox movies close to his heart and thinks one of them, 1996’s The Frighteners, doesn’t get the credit it deserves.
I lost my dad to Parkinson’s so besides @realmikefox being a friend, role model, generational talent and Canadian, I cannot wait to see ‘Still’ on @AppleTVPlus. It’ll soon reside on the MJF anthology DVD shelf in my heart. Btw, The Frighteners is criminally underrated. pic.twitter.com/mMsBndjTAPJanuary 21, 2023
I for one have to be on team Ryan Reynolds here. The Frighteners is an excellent movie that only a few people seem to remember. It starred Michael J. Fox as a con man capable of seeing the spirits of dead people. It’s also one of the pre-Lord of the Rings projects from Peter Jackson, who directed the movie and co-wrote it with Fran Walsh.
For a lot of people, it feels like Michael J. Fox’s career starts and stops with Back to the Future. While that’s certainly a great movie, Fox starred in many films from the late ‘80s to the early 2000s and while they may not have all been cultural touchstones like Back to the Future, there is some good stuff in there.
Certainly, anybody who is a big Michael J. Fox fan is going to know The Frighteners and that apparently includes Ryan Reynolds. The Deadpool star calls Fox a role model, but also a friend. But their connection doesn’t end there, as Reynolds mentions that his father died from Parkinson’s disease, so he also has first-hand experience seeing what the disease does to people.
Still certainly sounds like a unique and interesting film that may be worth an Apple TV+ subscription. It will apparently combine documentary footage with scripted elements to tell the story of Michael J. Fox’s life, both as a movie star and as a man who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 29. The film doesn’t have a release date yet, but when it does arrive Ryan Reynolds will not be the only person looking forward to seeing it.
