Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

I am a huge fan of early Metallica. They lost me, though, on the Metallica album (the black album, the first sign that they were turning into Spinal Tap). While this documentary is great film, I have to say that it just makes clear that Lars and James are utterly devoid of humor when it comes to themselves. At the film festival screening the theatre was filled with laughter as they revealed themselves to be petulant children who have a long way to go to reach maturity. Poor Kirk and the new guy, Rob Trujillo. There were only two times when Lars spoke really honestly in a way that didn't seem manipulative, and James never gave up anything real except when he was with his kids. The $40,000 a month counselor (he is not a trained psychiatrist or psychologist) was right out of Spinal Tap. FYI- the biggest cheers erupted after every Jason Newsted interview because he is just straight up, real, and honest. I wish him a lot of success because he seems to truly be all about playing music. Believe me, I applaud Metallica for being willing to let people see this truly great film, but as for Lars and James, lighten up for crying out loud. Therapy isn't only about expressing your feelings and expecting everyone to pat you on the back, it's also about learning to admit when you're wrong or being a jerk and laughing at yourself.

In 2001, the most successful Metal outfit of all time are teetering on the brink of a creative and personal s**tpit. Longtime bassist Jason Newstead has just quit, relations between the band are at an all-time low and, under pressure to deliver their first studio album of original material in years, 'St. Anger', the group have hired a therapist to help pull their plectrums out of their asses. What better time – or what worse – to invite the cameras round? For the next three years? Therapy, one feels, has gone to their heads. Even if you loathe Heavy Metal (especially if you loathe Heavy Metal) there's loads to enjoy here: from Oasis to Spinal Tap, everyone loves rock stars having a ruck, and Metallica rarely disappoint. Wince! As drummer Lars screams in singer James' face ('All these rules?! This is supposed to be a rock 'n' roll; band!!'). Gape! As they ponder whether 'guitar solos are outdated'. Boggle! As Lars' funky Danish dad Torben, resplendent in a long white beard and druid's staff, like something out of Tolkien, informs his son that their new music 'doesn't cut it'. Guffaw! As their therapist, resplendent in an ever-expanding range of lurid pullovers (so that's where his massive salary's going) nods politely along throughout, like a disco dad.

This is probably the first documentary about Metallica that didn't make you feel good. All of the older documentaries show a band that was personable and fun-loving, rocking like no one else can. They showed us the Metallica we were proud to call ourselves fans of. But with Some Kind of Monster , we see a band full of weather-beaten rock stars, burned out (an understatement), tired, desperate, and aggravated. It broke my heart to watch this, but it was a damn fine documentary.

Frankly, I'm glad this was released. Because the average semi-informed fan of Metallica (like myself), has only seen the headlines over the past ten years - which served to make the band look like they were becoming complete pricks. I love Metallica. But the wall of negative stuff that was thrown at us in the past decade has tainted our view of the band. This documentary straightens some of it out. While I don't believe that was the goal of the film, it is a fortunate side-effect.

I know the Metallica of the 80's is gone - beer flying, 9-minute epic metal songs, and the long hair - but hopefully, our favorite rockers still have the fire within to bring us a few more great albums. Metallica showed the world that heavy metal (and I mean *heavy*) didn't have to use gimmicks and make-up to be mainstream. All it needed was the right attitude and talented musicians to play it. I've seen them live nearly 20 times. Nobody can do it like Metallica. Nobody.

It's 2001. Metallica is making a new album and rents out space in the Presidio. Bassist Jason Newsted had left the band in frustration and starts his own band. The group is in therapy to work out their dysfunctional relationship. They continue to fight as front man James Hetfield leaves to enter rehab. Former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine explains the effects of his ejection from the group to Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett even with his subsequent success with Megadeth. After a year, James finally returns with new focus on sobriety and less time on the music. They slowly try to rebuild the band with new bassist Robert Trujillo.

This is a brave documentary from Metallica. They're showing many of the ugly struggles behind the scenes. It is personal and messy. The most compelling scene is Dave Mustaine's breakdown reunion. James and Lars' complicated work marriage with each other fills most of the rest of the movie. It's not necessarily a fun watch but it is interesting. It's probably much more compelling for Metallica fans but it's also a human story for everybody else.

The debate over whether or not Michael Moore's `Fahrenheit 9/11' should be called a `documentary' won't be heard hovering around Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's (`Brother's Keeper,' `Paradise Lost') `Metallica: Some Kind of Monster' because it is a documentary, an accurate rendering of the rock group's long struggle to create its latest album, `St. Anger.' Although sex and drugs play no role in the film and the groupie adulation is almost non present, making even the most out-of touch viewer skeptical, the battle of frontman James Hetfield with alcohol and the group with dysfunction has the feel of authenticity. We are left with a business partnership reviving its product.

By engaging `performance-enhancement coach' Phil Towle for $40,000 a month, Metallica puts its money where its mouth is-a serious effort to preserve the magic of a group that sold 90 million albums, so much a product of delicate personality bonding that the full time therapist had a real challenge to preserve the indefinable chemistry. Beside Hetfield's demons, drummer Lars Ulrich's Napster battle takes energy from the group, so Towle is probably a small investment in its survival. If heavy metal is not your thing, seeing this group psychodrama would be worth the admission.

Not seeming to fit the overall clinical activity of the film is a scene of Ulrich selling his art collection. Critic Ed Gonzalez gives an insightful explanation:

`There's a moment in the film where Berlinger and Sinofsky force a fascinating correlation between the paintings that hang in Ulrich's home and the music the band makes, calling attention to the relationship between art and the spectator and the way that art is consumed. This scene has absolutely nothing to do with the psych sessions between Metallica and Towle, and it's a great one.'

This kind of organic unity makes it a documentary of artful proportions. I still prefer classical and folk music, but I have to admit to a new interest in a musical genre I can share with my musician grandson Cody.