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Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story

Play trailer Poster for Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story PG-13 2004 1h 26m Biography Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Fame and controversy follow one (Flex Alexander) of the Jackson 5 after he becomes a solo singing sensation in the 1980s.

Critics Reviews

View All (3) Critics Reviews
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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (41) audience reviews
Audience Member Racism. Michael deserve better Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review 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 Full Review Read all reviews
Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

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
Michael Frislev, Chad Oakes
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