Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story

PG-13

2004

1h 26m

Biography

Drama

List

Reviews

41%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Fame and controversy follow one (Flex Alexander) of the Jackson 5 after he becomes a solo singing sensation in the 1980s.

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Audience Member

Racism. Michael deserve better

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

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Scott W

Kinda cheesy Michael Jackson movie maybe but I liked the effort to bring his story to a screen ... The story was fine ...

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/09/16

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Audience Member

A sad story of Michael Jackson. I think Jackson still had a child mentality into his adulthood because he had to grow up fast and missed out on much of his childhood. He could relate more to young children than adults and was fond being with kids, which lead many to misunderstand him. I don't believe he was ever sexual towards them but that's the way the world perceived it at the time. The lawyer who advised him to pay out with the first sexual claim, I think was an incompetent lawyer as this created a stigma against Jackson for future claims.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

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Audience Member

This movie was just as much of a train wreck as the life it was trying to show.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

I actually really enjoy most of this movie, but i do have my problems with it 2.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Audience Member

To be honest, I was skeptical when I heard they were making this movie; would this be just another "puff-piece" or would MAN IN THE MIRROR live up to its billing and deliver the definitive film portrait Jackson fans have been clamoring for? As everyone knows, Jackson's musical exploits had already been documented in the authorized and highly-sanitized AN AMERICAN FAMILY mini-series, so it's refreshing that VH-1's MAN IN THE MIRROR keeps the musical interludes to a minimum and devotes the majority of its running-time to the more compelling human story of the Self-Proclaimed King of Pop's unprecedented implosion. Starring in MAN IN THE MIRROR is the unlikely Flex Alexander (!), who overcomes his inappropriately bulky frame to deliver a sincere and memorable portrayal; from his pitch-perfect conversational tone to his wild eyes and expressions of shocked indignation, few performers have captured their subject so well! I'm pretty sure there's some actual news reel footage sprinkled throughout (the "Blanket Balcony Blunder," comments and clips from various Jackson family members), lending an added realism to the film that is by turns poignant and disturbing. So why a four and not a five-star review? Well, this being a Paramount release, the disc is light on extras and the picture is a tad soft. Jackson's ever-changing appearance no doubt presented a formidable challenge to the makeup department as well as the film's cinematographer, and frankly I was expecting the picture to have more "pop" in contrasting the "Thriller-era" Michael with the bleached, "Marcel Marceau" Michael of the "Bad" and "Dangerous" years. Oh well, perhaps when this hits blu-ray such flaws will be corrected, and with interest in Jackson's lurid legacy at an all-time high, VH-1 may even deliver a sequel to pair with this film and the original mini-series -- a sprawling and exhaustive trilogy worthy of the MAN IN THE MIRROR himself!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Allan Moyle

Director

Flex Alexander

Michael Jackson

Lynne Cormack

Liz

Peter Onorati

Ziggy

Krista Rae

Lisa Marie

Amy Sloan

Holly

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Melanie McFarland

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Surely nausea was not what Moyle was shooting for. But I guess that's what happens when you try to make uplifting TV "biopoetry," and nobody has the decency to slam you before it's too late.

Mar 2, 2019

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Justin Brown

Medium Popcorn

This is by far, one of the worst things I have ever seen. It's so bad that it could be comical...if it weren't so bad.

Rated: 0/5

Sep 4, 2022

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Brandon Collins

Medium Popcorn

This is one of the worst "movies" I have ever seen. It's bad enough they didn't have the rights to the music but the make-up, performances and cinematography were so poorly executed that it was offensive.

Rated: 0/5

Sep 4, 2022

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Synopsis

Fame and controversy follow one (Flex Alexander) of the Jackson 5 after he becomes a solo singing sensation in the 1980s.

Director: Allan Moyle
Producer: Jon Katzman, John Morayniss, Joey Plager
Screenwriter: Claudia Salter
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Elements), TV-14
Genre: Biography, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 9, 2016
Runtime: 1h 26m