'This Is It:' What it could have been

It would have been quite the show.That was the one reoccurring thought I had as I sat through the two hour "documentary" about the final Michael Jackson tour that will never be. That, and "why London?" All those sold out shows were going to be in London, not, oh I don't know, New York? Los Angeles? What gives?

Obviously, with his passing, that question really doesn't matter. After all, I'm sure there were plenty of American MJ fans planning to cross the pond to see the King of Pop for his curtain call. The tour's title, the same one this film has adopted, seems almost cruel now. It was meant to be "This Is It," as in this is the last tour for Michael Jackson. Now, this truly is "it."

Once I got past my irritation at the fact that "This Is It" is a hastily thrown together effort by AEG Live to recoup some of the millions upon millions of dollars they lost when their big-ticket star died before he could do the 50 concert dates... I found myself getting completely lost in the world of MJ. "This Is It" is quite simply a pieced-together collection of all the prep work MJ, his dancers, his musicians, choreographers and everybody else involved in such a massive production did earlier this year. Kenny Ortega is given a director's credit, which I suppose is appropriate since he was MJ's right hand man and more or less the director of the show. Still, calling "This Is It" a documentary is a stretch. Even calling it a movie is almost a stretch.

"This Is It" is more like a consolation prize. It is the most we can expect - probably more, actually - when the man all the fuss was and is about is no longer living. Ortega does sort of piece everything together in a beginning-to-end fashion; we start out with the auditions for MJ's principal dancers and end with, presumably, one of the last rehearsals before Jackson's death in June. In between we are treated to complete rehearsals of many of his songs, behind the scenes tidbits with dancers and musicians, and shown the making of the new videos they were going to incorporate into the shows.

Did I mention it would have been quite the show?

The most revealing parts of "This Is It," and the parts that actually feel the most like being at a concert, are the moments between the songs. Just as my experience has been at the few concerts I've been lucky enough to attend, the best parts are those few instances when the performance is on pause.

MJ is a complete gentleman as he talks to his crew between rehearsals and tells them what he wants changed. Even when he is complaining that his earpiece feels like someone is shoving a fist through his skull - certainly not a pleasant sounding sensation - MJ is polite.

It's not just that he has good manners, though. The man seems completely genuine. When he says "God bless you" to his dancers while they watch his rehearsals on songs they aren't needed on stage, I have no doubt he means it. When Ortega at one point tells MJ, as the artist is test-riding a giant mechanical arm (it would have been quite the show!), "I love you," MJ replies, "I love you, too." Again, I have no doubt he meant it.

As a "documentary," two hours is too long. As a consolation concert experience, it is actually just about right.

And my goodness, it would have been quite the show!

• Check out Carson's movie blog at www.juneaublogger.com/movies.