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Will Michael Jackson Movie Put the Kibosh on Critics?

'This Is It' Opens Amid Doubts about Jackson's Ability from Fans and Family

PHOTO Michael Jackson (C) rehearses for his planned shows in London at the Staples Center
Pop star Michael Jackson rehearses for his planned shows in London at the Staples Center June 23, 2009, in Los Angeles. Jackson died two days later in a hospital after going into cardiac arrest in his Los Angeles home.
(HO/Kevin Mazur/AEG via Getty Images)
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"This Is It" Is Too Soon for Some of Michael Jackson's Family

Sister LaToya Jackson told a reporter: "I will not be seeing it and my mother will not be seeing it because we're just not ready to see that just yet. It's just a bit too soon for us."

Mother Katherine Jackson told "Access Hollywood," "I don't think I can bear to look at it right now. But eventually in time I will watch it."

LaToya was unsure whether even her brother Michael would want the film seen.

"Truthfully, my opinion – no," she told "Access Hollywood." "Michael always wants to give his best. This is a rehearsal. He wasn't giving his all. He loves to give his all always. That's just the way he is. He wants people to see him at the top of the ladder and not half-stepping because he doesn't want to do a full-out rehearsal."

But Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who did see the film, gushed about Jackson's "genius" on her Twitter page. "It is the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking I have ever seen," she wrote. "It cements forever Michael's genius in every aspect of creativity."

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"I wept from pure joy at his God given gift. There will never, ever be the likes of him again," Taylor tweeted. "And we have this piece of film to remind us forever and ever that once there was such a man. God kissed him."

"You owe it to yourselves and your loved ones to see this again and again," she continued. "Memorize it and say to yourselves, 'I saw genius in my lifetime.'"

Taylor also praised the film's director Kenny Ortega. "Mr. Ortega catches Michael in his every mood," she wrote. "You see in front of your eyes Michael's genius blossoming on this piece of film thanks to Kenny Ortega and his crews."

Ortega told CNN last week that making the film was actually cathartic. "I thought I'd collapse," he said. "I thought I'll never get through it, it's too hard, it's too soon, but in fact it was healing and helpful."

Ultimately, he made a film that he hoped Jackson's children, Prince Michael, Paris and "Blanket" would want to see and that would make them proud of their father. According to TMZ, the children are eager to see the film.

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