(7/10)
The grizzled old lead singer and mastermind of Motorhead, Lemmy Kilmister is a man who does not care
what other people think of him. Filmmakers Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski however, seem to care what
every single person they encounter thinks of him. At least 60% of the film is composed of interviews
with Lemmy's friends, family, fans, peers, band members (past and present), and Billy Bob Thorton (!).
That sort of thing would be fine for a documentary where the subject was deceased or otherwise
unavailable, but the filmmakers had unlimited access to the main man.
What makes the interviews such (pun intended) overkill is that every interviewee seems to say the
same exact thing - Lemmy is a badass, Lemmy is unique, and Lemmy doesn't care what you think of him.
There are only so many ways to put those points into words within the parameters of the English
language so before very long the interviews seem to sound very much the same.
But what viewers are expecting is the subject of the film, and the filmmakers have certainly taken
advantage of their access to Lemmy himself. Long, loving segments of Lemmy talking, playing video
games, telling jokes, recording records, doing interviews, hanging around his apaartment, driving a
tank, shopping, etc. The lingering footage goes on long enough to bore even the most die-hard
Motorhead fan (I say this from personal experience), Lemmy even seems to be annoyed by the
shadowing cameras, wondering why anyone will care about some of what they're shooting.
This would make a great double feature with "The Story of Anvil." After that brilliant, funny, sad, and
engrossing film could be built around a band I'd never known much about and didn't really care for, I
was very excited what could be done with a musician and band I'm a lifelong fan of. Unfortunately, it
seems that while Anvil are the lesser music act, they got the better movie.
The makers of "...Anvil" were fans of the band, yet they were filmmakers first - they knew how to create
a narrative, how to make their audience care about the subject, and not to fill their running time with
footage only the biggest die-hard want to see. Additionally, the makers of "...Anvil" - while they loved
their subject - didn't turn away from their imperfections, their vulnerabilities and their faults. They
unflinchingly gave us a portrait of guys that - no matter how much we may come to like them - are never
going to 'make it'. It's a great documentary for that reason.
The makers of "Lemmy" are certainly fans, but not necessarily filmmakers (I don't believe that they've
ever made a film before and don't know that they ever will again). The movie comes off more as an
unabashed love letter to a rock star - everything he does is portrayed as funny, cool, or genius.We get
the sense that these guys will never ask any hard questions at the risk of being stripped of ther access
and have to leave their dream of being a fly on Lemmy's wall.
While disappointing, as a life-long fan, I do like the film. There is a plethora of memorable scenes and
good footage to be enjoyed, but it seems like the filmmakers stumbled ass-backwards into the most
important, moving, and touching moments. Some of the best scenes are the somewhat awkward and
painfully sad scenes with Lemmy's son. But you can't fully blame the filmmakers for the lack of emotional
content - while Lemmy gave these guys access to watch him wash his face in the morning and mingle
with Metallica, he's a notoriously hard nut to crack who has a witty comeback for most serious questions.
When Lemmy talks about being abandoned by his father he comes off gruff and nonchalant when it
really explains a lot of Lemmy's theories on marriage, family, and love that we've heard him preach for
most of the film. And the ending which finds Lemmy alone and looking sad waiting to go onstage
somewhere in Russia while he keeps recycling one-liners we've already heard is unexpectedly
poignant. But it feels like you have to find these nuggets yourself - if the filmmakers saw their
importance they would have been placed more prominently and not just sandwiched in between
endless repetitive shots of road crews loading gear, Motorhead performing and random beggars and
hangers-ons telling us how badass Lemmy is.
Overall, the movie is not a great documentary, but it is an amusing two hours of entertainment that will
hold your interest most if you're into the man and his music already. It's on DVD with an (Iron) Fistful of
cool extras that no Motorhead fan will want to be without.
The grizzled old lead singer and mastermind of Motorhead, Lemmy Kilmister is a man who does not care
what other people think of him. Filmmakers Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski however, seem to care what
every single person they encounter thinks of him. At least 60% of the film is composed of interviews
with Lemmy's friends, family, fans, peers, band members (past and present), and Billy Bob Thorton (!).
That sort of thing would be fine for a documentary where the subject was deceased or otherwise
unavailable, but the filmmakers had unlimited access to the main man.
What makes the interviews such (pun intended) overkill is that every interviewee seems to say the
same exact thing - Lemmy is a badass, Lemmy is unique, and Lemmy doesn't care what you think of him.
There are only so many ways to put those points into words within the parameters of the English
language so before very long the interviews seem to sound very much the same.
But what viewers are expecting is the subject of the film, and the filmmakers have certainly taken
advantage of their access to Lemmy himself. Long, loving segments of Lemmy talking, playing video
games, telling jokes, recording records, doing interviews, hanging around his apaartment, driving a
tank, shopping, etc. The lingering footage goes on long enough to bore even the most die-hard
Motorhead fan (I say this from personal experience), Lemmy even seems to be annoyed by the
shadowing cameras, wondering why anyone will care about some of what they're shooting.
This would make a great double feature with "The Story of Anvil." After that brilliant, funny, sad, and
engrossing film could be built around a band I'd never known much about and didn't really care for, I
was very excited what could be done with a musician and band I'm a lifelong fan of. Unfortunately, it
seems that while Anvil are the lesser music act, they got the better movie.
The makers of "...Anvil" were fans of the band, yet they were filmmakers first - they knew how to create
a narrative, how to make their audience care about the subject, and not to fill their running time with
footage only the biggest die-hard want to see. Additionally, the makers of "...Anvil" - while they loved
their subject - didn't turn away from their imperfections, their vulnerabilities and their faults. They
unflinchingly gave us a portrait of guys that - no matter how much we may come to like them - are never
going to 'make it'. It's a great documentary for that reason.
The makers of "Lemmy" are certainly fans, but not necessarily filmmakers (I don't believe that they've
ever made a film before and don't know that they ever will again). The movie comes off more as an
unabashed love letter to a rock star - everything he does is portrayed as funny, cool, or genius.We get
the sense that these guys will never ask any hard questions at the risk of being stripped of ther access
and have to leave their dream of being a fly on Lemmy's wall.
While disappointing, as a life-long fan, I do like the film. There is a plethora of memorable scenes and
good footage to be enjoyed, but it seems like the filmmakers stumbled ass-backwards into the most
important, moving, and touching moments. Some of the best scenes are the somewhat awkward and
painfully sad scenes with Lemmy's son. But you can't fully blame the filmmakers for the lack of emotional
content - while Lemmy gave these guys access to watch him wash his face in the morning and mingle
with Metallica, he's a notoriously hard nut to crack who has a witty comeback for most serious questions.
When Lemmy talks about being abandoned by his father he comes off gruff and nonchalant when it
really explains a lot of Lemmy's theories on marriage, family, and love that we've heard him preach for
most of the film. And the ending which finds Lemmy alone and looking sad waiting to go onstage
somewhere in Russia while he keeps recycling one-liners we've already heard is unexpectedly
poignant. But it feels like you have to find these nuggets yourself - if the filmmakers saw their
importance they would have been placed more prominently and not just sandwiched in between
endless repetitive shots of road crews loading gear, Motorhead performing and random beggars and
hangers-ons telling us how badass Lemmy is.
Overall, the movie is not a great documentary, but it is an amusing two hours of entertainment that will
hold your interest most if you're into the man and his music already. It's on DVD with an (Iron) Fistful of
cool extras that no Motorhead fan will want to be without.
 |
Rating;
Written by Jim Haggerty