Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster

Year: 2004

Grade: B-

Country: USA

Director: Berlinger/Sinofsky

Review

i used to love metallica, but their last couple albums sucked and then there’s the whole napster thing…so now i’m sort of ambivalent. if nothing else, this documentary humanizes a group of guys who have often been above the rest of us. it adds a new wrinkle to films like gimme shelter and don’t look back, which followed the rolling stones and bob dylan, respectively. this film follows another giant rock group, but this time it’s on their downswing and the camera makes its way into group therapy sessions. it’s a pretty odd experience in that way, because so infrequently do we see rock stars at their most vulnerable. sinofsky and berlinger (brother’s keeper) do an expectedly good job of telling the story, even to non-metallica fans; they give just the right amount of information, at just the right time. the film is a bit on the long side, especially for a documentary, but there’s enough material here to justify it. i do think that the film has a good bit to offer to people who don’t like metallica or aren’t very interested in the usual music documentaries. the reason is that the film operates fairly well on the human drama level. by the end of the film i felt a little fed up with the group therapy footage, but that was more of a general response to therapy than it was to the film in particular. it’ll get you in touch with your feelings.