It sounds like the beginning of a "Spinal Tap" joke: did you hear the one about the heavy metal band that went into group therapy? It gets even funnier when you hear the band is big-ticket act Metallica and that the therapy sessions are real.
After Metallica broke up with long-time bassist Jason Newsted in 2001, remaining members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammet found themselves in a crisis. When their manager suggested group therapy, the band hired a temporary bassist and got back together to record an album. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's documentary "Some Kind of Monster" chronicles the sessions (therapy and recording) that led to the 2003 album "St. Anger" and the subsequent tour.
There was a great documentary to be made from this material. Rock'n roll's "hardest-partying band," nicknamed Alcoholica, turns into Therapeutica! But "Some Kind of Monster" turns out to be a fan movie that wants to show the redemption and triumphal return of its heroes. There's comedy in seeing Lars Ulrich, powerhouse drummer and contentious anti-Napster-witness descend into psychobabble ("It's not about what you say, it's about what I feel!") but the film takes itself much too seriously. As the gut-wrenching ego fights drag on, it's easy to suspect that these guys never really liked each other and that the only reason the band stayed together is money lust. If quitting would fix all the deep psychological problems, then there's really nothing at stake but Metallica's million dollar paychecks. Why should we care?
Fans, of course, will have an answer ready: because of the music, man. But other than rehearsals and few all-too-brief clips from the band's twenty-year history, there is very little actual music in the film. Not until the credits do we see Metallica play an entire song. I wish Berlinger and Sinofsky had provided more context. The omission seems especially scandalous given the film's 139 minute running time--less Therapeutica and more Alcoholica would have been welcome. Isn't this supposed to be about rock'n roll?
If you look a little closer, the tell-all candor is revealed as another pose. We never find out, for instance, why exactly Hetfield entered rehab. In the end, the new album goes straight to number one, and we realize that we've watched a promotional video after all, an extended "making-of" featurette, endorsed and paid for by the band. Now go and buy "St. Anger"--just don't download it, okay?
If you look a little closer, the tell-all candor is revealed as another pose. We never find out, for instance, why exactly Hetfield entered rehab. In the end, the new album goes straight to number one, and we realize that we've watched a promotional video after all, an extended "making-of" featurette, endorsed and paid for by the band. Now go and buy "St. Anger"--just don't download it, okay?
