Metallica doc strips down monsters of rock to egomaniacal pussycats

Why does a band that has sold 90 million records need to hire an on-site group therapist during the recording of their new album? "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" is a portrait of the band at an all-time-low.

MOVIE REVIEW

METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER

DIRECTORS: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky

DOCUMENTARY

RUNNING TIME: 140 minutes

RATING: Unrated, contains profanity

WHERE: Meridian 16, Varsity

GRADE: B

Suffering the departure of bassist Jason Newsted, as well as a fan backlash in the wake of drummer Lars Ulrich's lawsuit against Napster, the monsters of heavy metal struggle to come up with musical ideas in the barracks of a former military base.

Directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky ("My Brother's Keeper," "Paradise Lost") strip their subjects of rock star gloss in this portrait of uninspired middle-age men trying to jump-start a dead horse. With images of better days superimposed upon the lame recording sessions that, after three years, were released as 2003's "St. Anger," ex-bassist Newsted explains that he left the band because the members were more interested in raising families than making music.

During one session, singer/guitarist James Hetfield walks out of the studio and into a rehab clinic, resulting in a one-year hiatus in the recording of the album. During this time, the band continues their therapy with Phil Towle, who has insinuated himself onto the payroll to the tune of $40,000 a month.

Scenes of the band in group therapy are hilarious, with the self-absorbed rock gods getting sensitive with the fragile egos of their bandmates.

When Hetfield returns, he is a rehabilitated wreck who can work only four hours a day and shows signs of extreme paranoia toward his bandmates who, from his perspective, are undermining him simply by listening to tape playbacks after he has left for the day.

Somehow the band manages to complete the recordings and go on to a successful tour with a new bass player.

One of the oddest things about the sessions is the way in which the music and lyrics are democratically devised. Lyrics are written in roundtable fashion, with each member forced to contribute. It is fascinating to watch how Hetfield's cynical attempts to sing other people's lyrics are transformed into a sincere desire to make the lyrics work.

Two sequences go against the grain of this generally honest look at the real people behind Metallica. In one preposterous interview, former lead guitarist Dave Mustaine claims that being kicked out of the group ruined his life. In another hard-to-swallow bit of self-promotion, bassist Robert Trujillo acts as if he has just won a lottery when he's asked to join the band.

In the end, when Ulrich claims "the band has proven that it can make aggressive music without negative energy," one can only laugh, as the film has been a wallow in the negative energy created by big egos that can't get along but must find ways to make their business entity function. Berlinger and Sinofsky, with their knack for penetrating the diabolical pretensions of weak and disaffected human beings, have brought Metallica to its knees.