Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon begins at the end, so to speak. It opens with bodyguard Alberto Alvarez's frantic yet surprisingly courteous emergency call on that fateful day on June 25, 2009.
'Sir, we have a gentleman here that needs help. He's stopped breathing, he's not breathing and we are trying to pump him [his chest], but he's not, he's not ...'
Even today, Alvarez's words send shivers down the spine.
From that gut-wrenching opening, though, Life of an Icon embarks on a slippery slope into boredom. The film boasts of more than '50 interviews' with close friends and family and 'never-before-seen family photography'.
However, the documentary delivers only a handful of new revelations about the pop star. And the seemingly endless stream of grainy, faded stills soon begins to test your patience.
Unfortunately, the video resources available to producer David Gest, a close friend of Jackson, seem limited to familiar news footage.