I have always been a huge fan of Michael J. Fox and his work, especially as I follow his incredibly brave battle with Parkinson’s disease. Back to the Future is not only a quintessential ’80s film but also one of the most groundbreaking works on time travel ever created.

In FUTURE BOY, Fox and co-writer Nelle Fortenberry provide an eye-opening deep dive into what it was like to star in that legendary movie. It is a dynamic look behind the scenes that will have you grinning from ear to ear as you experience the making of it directly through the eyes of Mike Fox (as he likes to refer to himself) and his character, Marty McFly.

"FUTURE BOY is a welcome blast from the past and provides endless opportunities to bask in the glow of the creation of one of the greatest films ever made."

Fox and Fortenberry attempt to explain the concept of the space-time continuum as originally devised by Albert Einstein. This is a key part of Einstein’s theory of relativity and addresses serious details about the possibility of time travel and how that could impact the history of both this reality and other possible alternate universes. If this sounds confusing to you, it’s comforting to know that it was just as perplexing to Fox when he first read the Back to the Future script.

I had forgotten that Eric Stoltz was initially cast as Marty McFly. Producer Steven Spielberg and director Robert Zemeckis had originally wanted Fox, but he was tied up with his hit television series “Family Ties” and the movie Teen Wolf. Stoltz had filmed with his co-stars for six weeks, half of the original shooting schedule, when he was let go. Rumor has it that the production team was not a fan of Stoltz’s portrayal of Marty and the method acting he brought to the set.

This made things a tad uncomfortable for Fox, who jumped at the opportunity to join the film and was given the accommodation of shooting at night so he could continue working on “Family Ties” during the day. If you are an actor who has had to go through six weeks of filming and now must redo everything, and on a late-night schedule, you might not be too happy. So it’s understandable that Fox’s first scene with Lea Thompson was filled with trepidation as she had been close friends with Stoltz and frowned upon television actors doing movies.

Nevertheless, Fox quickly won her over, as well as everyone else involved in the project. He brought a fresh take to the character, and his energy and positivity were infectious. The first scene he shot featured Doc Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, introducing Marty to the DeLorean. Fox could not praise Lloyd highly enough and still remains close to him.

We get to experience Fox’s rise as an actor through his move from Canadian television to “Family Ties.” He was always into music and was able to show off his guitar prowess in the movie, making sure that he didn’t mess up Chuck Berry’s classic tune, “Johnny B. Goode.” The back cover of the book features a great photo of Fox as Marty playing the guitar. Numerous other fabulous pictures are inside.

Towards the end of the memoir, there is a nice cathartic moment when Fox reached out to Stoltz many years after the movie came out. The two hit it off and continue to correspond to this day. FUTURE BOY is a welcome blast from the past and provides endless opportunities to bask in the glow of the creation of one of the greatest films ever made.