The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 75

MOVIES Michael J. Fox faces the future with his own family ties By TOM GREEN Gannett News Service ichael J. Fox it his son, knows off so "Who Sam, why 6-month-old great: have he better and hit than me to understand how a kid thinks?" Indeed, who better? For most of the '80s, Fox has defined the ultimate kid, exuding energetic fresh-scrubbed likability, first on TV's "Family Ties," then at the movies in "Back to the Future." The 28-year-old is at it again, playing Andy Hardy-ish Marty McFly in "Back to the Future Part II," which opened nationwide last week. "Back to the Future" was a surprise 1985 smash. Fox is "perfect for these movies," says "Back to the Future" director Robert Zemeckis.

"'He's a savvy hip kid who has a certain vulnerability at the same time." However, on the set of "Back to the Future Part III," the continuation and, swears Zemeckis, the conclusion of the trilogy Fox is not feeling much like a kid. Future projects for Fox, including a television series that he will produce and a film for Steven Spielberg that he will direct, are piling up. A movie in which he will star is stalled until he finishes "'Future When his days as time traveler McFly finally wrap around Christmas, Fox will launch part two of a career that caught fire in 1982, with the sitcom "Family Ties," and exploded three years later with the $200 million box-office success of "Back to the Future." For now, his family comes first. The night "Part II" was screened for the cast and crew in the single theater in tiny Sonora, a town in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada, Fox was not there. He had stolen back to Los Angeles.

"You could bring Olivier back from the dead and have him perform 'Hamlet' at Sonora High School," he says, "and I would have been home with my family." When "Part III" wraps, Fox plans to take a long break to be with his wife, actress Tracy Pollan, and their son. It is written into the contract of his next picture, the comedy "'The Hard Way," that he gets four months off before shooting can begin. "I was taken by surprise because 'Part II' and 'Part III' were originally 'Part Then they became two. My wife and I thought that I'd do this movie the first part of the year and then our child would be born and by now we'd be in the second or third month of just enjoying our son. "But I should be able to be with him in time for the ages 7-8 months to roughly a year, which is a really nice "The smartest thing I ever did PAGE 6 December 1, 1989 Three movies in which he tried dramatic roles a musician in "Light of Day," a druggie in "Bright Lights, Big City," a Vietnam soldier in "Casualties of War" were not enthusiastically received at the box office.

"I think "Casualties of War" is the finest dramatic film I will ever be in," says Fox, insisting that just doing it was enough and he's not going to dwell on its disappointing box-office performance. Fox sees what is working for him: Fans like him in comedy and that's the track he is returning to. "'Casualties of War' was the kind of piece I had wanted to do for a long time. Having done that, I should pay people back for their Now he's sitting on the set of "Back to the Future Part III" in a cowboy hat and poncho getting ready to jump on a horse, which he really doesn't know how to ride figure if the camera is rolling and I pretend I know what I'm doing, I'll know what I'm He's in Western gear because much of "'Part III" is a Western. A few hundred yards away, the town square of Hill Valley as it looked in 1885 is ready for shooting.

Still, there's something sobering about all of it, too. When it's over, Fox knows he will have to say goodbye to what his agent has dubbed his "golden cradle," the movies that have allowed him amazing opportunities. But the relentlessly upbeat Fox puts a positive spin on the future. "It will be a pleasure to look back and feel good about the things that I've accomplished. But it's also going to be a pleasure to know that it's a clean slate from now on.

I'm curious about what happens next." TO THE FUTURE PART II': In his latest film, Michael J. Fox stars with Elizabeth Shue and Christopher Lloyd. as a father was to marry his moth- he wraps one last commercial for er," says the actor, noting that his Diet Pepsi next month, he will experiences as a new father finish the final commitment he aren't all that unique. made when "Back to the Future" When his break ends, hit four and a half years ago. family Fox will resume a career that he "Everything after this is my admits is at a crossroads.

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