Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

February 6, 2005

Rated: NR Runtime: 141 min Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

You will be hard pressed to find more than a couple of documentaries here @ MFG and the ones you do find will have boobies in them. This site is not known for it’s serious approach to film making nor do we ever give two squirts what the intent of any particular director might have been; we focus on comedy first and critical analysis second. Today I plan to change that because plain and simple, this movie F’N rules.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster The film making team of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky in cooperation, and at the request of the entire band, follow them around for some 700+ days during the creation of Metallica’s latest CD, St. Anger. You will see the family lives and personal lives of James, Lars and Kirk as they attempt to hold the band together after the unexpected departure of 14 year Bass player Jason Newsted. Jason and James/Larz have a falling out over another pet project Jason had been working on with a couple of other musicians called, Echo Brain. In James/Larz’s minds they felt if Jason was not happy in Metallica and he felt the need to pursue this other band, he was not committed any more, he could get out. Jason on the other hand felt as though James/Larz/Kirk had become too family oriented to truly dedicate themselves to the music anymore, so he let himself out.

Long story short, Larz, Kirk, and James try to go it alone and this movie showcases how tough that choice turns out to be. The three remaining members along with producer Bob Rock hammer out the project while spending more time in therapy sessions than the recording studio and it takes its toll on all of them in different ways. With the help of a $40,000 per month therapist the men address long time issues with each other and the desire to actually continue to make music… Really excellent stuff from beginning to end. You will see interviews with new Bass player Rob Trujillo, former Bass player Jason Newsted and the most surprising thing of all; A face to face between former lead guitarist Dave Mustaine and Larz Ulrich.

Most documentaries are self indulgent BS that usually leads you the viewer to hate either the film maker (Michael Moore) or the subjects (Michael Moore). The duo of Berlinger and Sinofsky made it onto my radar back in 1996 when they did the HBO documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin hood Hills, gut-wrenching material but damn good film making. This is the same way but this time, you feel like you know the people you are watching. At times I was really bothered because even though we as normal worker bees know, they are just people too trying to make a living and have a family; You don’t want to see them behave like that. You want, what I want, “Alcohollica” and all the excess that goes with it and that isn’t what this movie is about. No tricks or gimmicks appear to be used here and not one single member paints himself in a light that is endearing but it works, and works well.

This film deserves to be seen by any person on this planet that has ever listened to Metallica’s music and has ever felt the least little connection to the band and their songs. You won’t always like what you see but when you see it, it will make you understand where the music and lyrics come from.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Posted by J.C. Edwards | Filed Under 5 Stars, DVD, Documentary, James Hetfield, Jason Newsted, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, Music, NR, Rob Trujillo