Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Directors:

Joe Berlinger
Bruce Sinofsky

Release Date:

30 July 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

The film that redefines group therapy.

Plot:

A documentary crew followed Metallica for the better part of 2001-2003, a time of tension and release for the rock band, as they recorded their album St. Anger, fought bitterly, and sought the counsel of their on-call shrink.

Plot Keywords:

Rock Band | Recording Studio | Therapy | Art Auction | Record Label

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

James Hetfield	...	Himself
Lars Ulrich	...	Himself
Kirk Hammett	...	Himself
Robert Trujillo	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eric Avery Weiss	...	Himself (as Eric Avery)
Cliff Burnstein	...	Himself
Cliff Burton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Crazy Cabbie	...	Himself
Stefan Chirazi	...	Himself
Dylan Donkin	...	Himself
Erica Forstadt	...	Herself
Gio Gasparetti	...	Himself
Mike Gillies	...	Himself
Lani Hammett	...	Herself
Zach Harmon	...	Himself
Eric Helmkamp	...	Himself
Cali Tee Hetfield	...	Herself
Castor Virgil Hetfield	...	Himself
Francesca Hetfield	...	Herself
Pepper Keenan	...	Himself
Danny Lohner	...	Himself
Peter Mensch	...	Himself
Dave Mustaine	...	Himself
Jason Newsted	...	Himself
Peter Paterno	...	Himself
Scott Reeder	...	Himself
Marc Reiter	...	Himself
Bob Rock	...	Himself
Brian Sagrafena	...	Himself
Skylar Satenstein	...	Herself
Niclas Swanlund	...	Himself
Phil Towle	...	Himself
Myles Ulrich	...	Himself
Torben Ulrich	...	Himself
Jeordie White	...	Himself (as Twiggy Ramirez)
Steven Wiig	...	Himself
Chris Wyse	...	Himself

Runtime:

141 min | USA:135 min (Nashville Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Finland:K-3 | Australia:M | Czech Republic:12 | Ireland:12 | Norway:A | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Christie's Auction House, Rockefeller Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Radical Media

Trivia:

Former Metallica members Jason Newsted and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth make appearances in this film.

Quotes:

Kirk Hammett: So what's Jason's role in all this?
James Hetfield: What? Who?
Marc Reiter: OK, fine, I mean... But I don't think Jason has any role.
Cliff Burnstein: He lost his icon status when he left Metallica.

Movie Connections:

References Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)

Soundtrack:

Highway 44

We are left with a business partnership reviving its product.

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.