Like most everything in life, rock bands have a beginning, middle and end. The latter stage can be caused by any number of factors (occasionally including human death), but it often stems from the old familiarity breeding contempt notion as well as the clashing of super inflated egos. While some bands do manage to stay together and weather the various storms, most die off (occasionally to be resurrected when money or ego-stroking is needed).
It's still too early to tell what will happen to Metallica, the heavy metal band formed in 1981 that has since sold more than 90 million albums worldwide. But in 2001, when trying to record their first album in several years, they took the unusual step of hiring a therapist to try to circumvent the dissension that had been stewing among the members and threatened to split them up. And they did this all while allowing a documentary film crew to capture every moment of the process.
The result, "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster," is a blast to watch, as long as you don't mind witnessing what's essentially a rock and roll soap opera. To be more accurate, it's like the musical cousin to HBO's "The Sopranos." Like that show, this effort has turned the standard and to be expected conventions -- this time of the rock documentary -- on their head.
Rather than having Tony Soprano being a conflicted mobster who becomes addicted to his therapy, however, we have a bunch of heavy metal rockers who forgo the sex, drugs and rock and roll theatrics for revealing sessions with their therapist. The amazing thing is that you don't need to be a fan of the band, or heavy metal or even standard rock and roll music to become mesmerized by what transpires.
Some may complain that it's really an elongated (and long at 140 some minutes) knockoff of VH1's popular "Behind the Music" series. There are obvious and unavoidable similarities such as the behind the scenes writing and recording sessions, their efforts to select a new bass player and bits and pieces of the band's history and changes in their lineup.
Yet, this offering has more of the feel of a usual low-budget film documentary than the highly polished and edited sixty-minute programs that air on TV. Even so, those prone to suspicion may also accuse the film (and those in it) of purposefully being exaggerated (to heighten the drama) or even being fully or partially scripted since the melodrama, squabbles and such seem too perfectly delicious to be real.
Only those directly involved in the film will ever know the truth -- and I don't believe in any of those allegations -- but whatever the case, the picture is undeniable highly entertaining, albeit in a car crash sort of fashion. With bassist Jason Newsted having just quit and lead singer James Hetfield's substance problems generating even greater conflict with drummer Lars Ulrich, the stage is set for disaster.
Over the course of 700 some days, Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky ("Brother's Keeper," "Paradise Lost") captured the daily trials and tribulations of the musicians attempting to cut a new album amidst various setbacks that included Hetfield disappearing into rehab for several months.
When he eventually returns, he's a changed man, but his tortured artist persona and new strict work schedule creates new problems and strife, and keeps the melodrama going at full boil. Thankfully, none of the participants seems to be hamming it up for the camera or trying to generate soap opera theatrics. The resultant documentary is an increasingly engrossing, funny and entertaining look at both the business of rock and roll and the human psyche.
If anything, the documentary -- that at times almost feels like "This is Spinal Tap 2" -- shows that millionaire rock stars -- at least those who've already sewn their wild oats for decades -- are just people too, with their own unique sorts of problems and insecurities. All of which makes the band seem that much more interesting and accessible. Increasingly captivating and agreeably diverting as it unfolds, "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" rates as a 7 out of 10.
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