Originally meant to be a document of the making of St. Anger, this film instead shows a band about to fall apart. Bassist Jason Newstead had quit, founders Ulrich and Hetfield are at each others throats, and poor Kirk Hammett (the only person in the film who generates any real sympathy from the audience) stands by helplessly. The band hires a shrink (who, by the end of the film, comes across as a leech) to help them sort through their problems. Even former member Dave Mustaine shows up at one point for an emotional confrontation with Ulrich (and Mustaine was really annoyed the scene showed up in the final cut). We also meet new bassist Robert Trujillo, whose hiring is the metal equivalent of winning the lottery (even though being a bassist in Metallica has got to be the most thankless job in the world). Hes more or less treated like a new employee, while Hetfield and Ulrich often come across as obscenely wealthy divas. Allowing themselves to be presented like this is a pretty brave-ass move on their part, and the film itself is long and difficult to watch at times, featuring very little actual music outside of a few St. Anger recording sessions (which wont make you appreciate the album any more than you already do). Speaking of which...
D.M. Anderson works and lives in Portland Oregon. He is the author of two young adult novels (Killer Cows & Shaken) and a collection of dark tales (With the Wicked). He has also published several short stories which have appeared (or will appear) in various anthologies and magazines such as 69 Flavors of Paranoia, Night Terrors, Trembles, Encounters, Implosion, Strange Fucking Stories, Perpetual Motion Machine. He documents his adventures in the dark on on his movie site, Free Kittens Movie Guide
