From Jackbo at MJSTAR:
Hi, guys
Yesterday I attended the premiere screening of Ian Halperins 90 min documentary "Gone Too Soon", to be aired on a massive number of TV stations around the world june 25th. Thought you might wanna read a true fan's immediate reaction. So here, goes;
The film is not very controversial, and does not really shed ANY new light on anything regarding Michael or his passing. Halperin is without doubt sympathetic to MJ, which is nice. He is confident that MJ was innocent of all allegations of pedephila, and there is no dwelling on his previous allegations of MJs gay preferences. The only controversial point Halperin tries to make, is that his personal belief is that Prince and Paris are the kids of dr. Arnold Klein, and Blanket the son of Omer Batthi. But this comes across only as very bad journalism, and not really as a newsworthy information... Ian himself dismisses the question as "irrelevant".
Basically, to me, the movie is a boring, badly put together, superficial, pretentious piece of trash television. If anything, the documentary could have been of some interest to a non-fan who had not read a newspaper or seen TV the last couple of years, as it is a walk through the endless number of speculations and rumors that we have already heard form different speculative sources.
However, the documentary totally suffers from lack of direction, drama, tension, suspense, logic...any given quality you expect from a production that intends to grasp your attention for 90 minutes.It is simply a very badly crafted production. Unprofessional and without merit, as there is no storytelling progression but an endless variety of repetions of the obviuos ... like 10 minutes of different talking heads about the incompetent behaviour of dr. Murray.
It starts off with a promise that Halperin has a story to tell about what killed Michael Jackson... "Greed". As it turns out, there is nothing concrete to substantiate this, unless you accept that the monetary aspect of showbiz is "greed", that the industry makes entertainers work hard, and that hard work through a long and turbulent life eventually turned MJ into an exhausted insomniac who took is death from an accident with dubious sleeping-aid from a doctor who should have known better. Fair enough, but there is no justification to wrap this up as an "undercover journalist" documentary.
There is a sit down-interview with Frank Dileo. Then again, Dileo is the only character appearing in the movie who seems to have any relevant connection to MJ. All the other are at best distant figures in his life, whose stories seem very unqualified and irrelevant. It is simply put VERY BORING to se a dozen of talking heads such as a random "psychotherapist", a mediocre comedian, the ever-present Jackson-lawyer Brian Oxman or whoever elderly whatshisname share their personal points of views on Michael´s destiny.
There is absolutely no MJ-related music in the film, and all clips of him are shamelessly downloaded from youtube, i.e. bad quality recordings that are already seen by people who are interested, and of no worth for people who are not.
The lowest point of the film is where Ian brags about having gone undercover as a workout client from Canada, to learn about MJ from personal trainer Lou "Hulk" Ferrigno. Ian shows up for a training session with Lou in sunglasses and a hood and basically conducts a totally lame interview for the open camera. One sits and wonder what on earth this has to do with supposedly "undercover" journalism.
There is no line of storytelling, no point to be made or significant question to be asked. Everything is pure speculation, speculation that is not even motivated by the premise of the film. A total embarrasment for the author and production company, who have had the nerve to sell their unfinished product around the world well in advance of their premiére, simply because the networks are willing to buy anything that can be scheduled as a suitable tribute to MJ on the anniversary of his passing.
I really wish there would be a thourough, interesting and respectful documentary about MJ and his life, a life that contains so much story and emotion that it could inspire the world in a biblical way, had it been
produced in the quality his lifestory deserves.
