Kickstart Classic Rock’s Heart: Cat Watched ‘The Dirt’ and Liked It

I ended up liking ‘The Dirt’ more than ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. There, I said it. I’ll tell you why.

First off, as everyone on Twitter is fond of saying: “How are these guys still alive!?” It sums up the whole film nicely, so you could technically stop reading here, but please continue…

I started watching ‘The Dirt’ with low expectations and limited knowledge of the four guys that made up Mötley Crüe other than that they had some good songs and lived for sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. I knew the most about Tommy Lee, having watched ‘Tommy Lee Goes to College’ when I was 15 and knowing he: 1. Was a well-known drummer, 2. Was once upon a time married to Pamela Anderson and 3. Had something against shirts…and pants… All clothes, really. I knew of Nikki Sixx from that time he dated Kat Von D and was featured on ‘L.A. Ink’. I also knew he had strong eyeliner and hairspray game. I knew one of the guys in the band often wore a hat, that the other was blond and that my gym teacher loved them.

We didn’t play a lot of Mötley Crüe in the house when I was a kid, but I would have been able to identify their music on the radio and had a handful of songs on my iPod. I was always partial to ‘Wild Side’, but it changes.

I learned with the release of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ last year to take the information given in band biopics with a grain of salt. Not everything is going to be fact and because it’s a film meant to keep your attention things will obviously be somewhat exaggerated. There is plenty of timeline information and explanations from the band themselves to debunk some of the glammed up moments you see in the film.

Something this film gets an A+ for is casting. I mean, let’s get it out of the way… Eye candy, no? Yeah I said it, those are some good looking actors (if you’re into that rock star look) and we all know how I feel about guys who can rock eyeliner. Guys that look like THAT are usually my type (sans all the debauchery). However good looking they are is matched with talent. I knew who Iwan Rheon was from ‘Misfits’. I’d heard the name ‘Machine Gun Kelly’ (who I’ll be referring to as Colson Baker in this post) but what do I know about rap? Nothing. I’d never heard of Douglas Booth or Daniel Webber before. Period. I’m glad this was my introduction.

Like I said, I’m no Mötley Crüe expert, but following my viewing of the film (which I’ve since watched twice and would absolutely watch again) I looked up many clips of the band talking in interviews because I wanted to see how accurately they portrayed them. They nailed it.

You’ve probably heard a lot of praise for Colson Baker’s portrayal of Tommy Lee, and for good reason. Look, Tommy doesn’t exactly make the wisest decisions. If he’s in the headlines it’s never for anything good. However, he does have a charismatic personality which is probably why and how he gets away with so much. There are moments in the movie where you kind of cock your head to the side and go “aww” over his clunky but enthusiastic nature. As I heard someone describe him as recently: “A perpetual 12 year old”, and I couldn’t agree more. He acts on impulse. It’s problematic and you get just the smallest glimpse of it in the film (let’s not forget that Tommy Lee went on to serve jail time). Baker captured all of it, and as someone who at 15/16 years old attempted to play drums I appreciate how much work he put in to learning how to do all the drumming tricks. I’d for sure check out another movie of his to see what kind of range he has as an actor.

Mick Mars. The mystery. The only man in the band with any brain cells in would seem (at the time at least). I had zero knowledge of his disease (Ankylosing Spondylitis) and seeing the progression of it in the film but also in real life was heartbreaking. If there was any sort of conscience in the band it was him. Maybe because of the age gap, but probably more so a difference in personality. Music first. The rest was secondary… Except for maybe the things that, uh, happened, under the bar table… Either way, Rheon’s portrayal made me like Mick Mars with his deadpan comments. He did his job.

Alright, Nikki Sixx. Deep breath, there’s a lot to say. There always seems to be one individual in every band who takes charge of the “big ideas”. That, to me, seems to be him. Clean and sober now he comes across as this zen, goth Jeff Bridges character. Everything is chill. Everything is fine, man. Watermelon and coffee are the vices, view the bigger picture (his tank vs. helicopter analogy is interesting). Good for him, because I didn’t know of his messed up childhood, or that he literally DIED. What!? Multiple shots of adrenaline, kickstart my heart indeed. Douglas Booth makes Nikki likeable when you might not want to like Nikki. The scene where he’s running through the hallway, for example. All bashing lights out with his bass because he’s, you know, really high, so nothing can stop him! He has this maniacal laugh and you kind of just want to shrug off all the damage they’re doing. I imagine that’s how a lot of people looked at Mötley Crüe at the time. I kind of feel bad for thinking any of it was funny. Another significant moment was Nikki’s downfall. As if the heroin overdose scene wasn’t painful enough to watch, it was ten times worse when following his arrival home Nikki shoots up again. You’re left with this horrid image of his bloodied up arm and weakened veins and you’re battling your contrasting emotions, questioning whether or not you want to hug him or smack him across the face.

I probably knew the least about Vince Neil. Usually you know stuff about the lead singer of bands, but no. Didn’t know he killed his friend in a car crash because he was drunk and lost control of the vehicle (it was infuriating to learn he was only sentenced to 30 days in jail and served even less because of good behaviour). I also didn’t know his daughter died so young from cancer. THAT scene is heart wrenching. Most people probably don’t decide to watch ‘The Dirt’ in anticipation of a good cry, but here we are and I’m sure many did shed some tears over the emotional performance Daniel Webber gave in that scene. 5/5 tissue boxes for you, Daniel Webber!

In conclusion: Baker as Tommy Lee will make you laugh, Webber as Vince Neil will make you cry, Booth as Nikki Sixx will leave you feeling conflicted and Rheon as Mick Mars will remind you with few words that the other three band members are idiots.

Onward!

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was great, don’t get me wrong. I just liked ‘The Dirt’ more. Where ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was slow-paced, ‘The Dirt’ was the opposite. Snapshots of moments instead of heavy storytelling. Even though the characters break fourth wall several times. I liked that touch. Especially when Rheon breaks fourth wall to explain that Doug Thaler didn’t make the cut in the film and later when Baker explains a day in the life of Tommy Lee. None of the characters have a full story arc, but it’s enough to get the gist of what each one went through. It’s clearly a story about the entire band, though Nikki’s story feels like it takes the lead with his heroin addiction. The film knows what it was setting out to do, unlike ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ that didn’t seem to grasp what direction it was going in. A story about Freddie Mercury’s life? Or a story about how Queen conquered the music scene? Either way a lot was skipped and over-dramatized. ‘The Dirt’ is guilty of over-dramatic scenes and lines too, but didn’t dwell on anything too long, so it kept me interested. It probably helped that I knew so little about Mötley Crüe, whereas I already knew a lot about Queen. Either way, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ took the family movie approach. ‘The Dirt’ took the rated ‘R’ approach. To each their own.

The movie is entertaining. It would have been even more satisfying if after viewing it you found out that everyone in the band went off to get clean and sober and do everything right.

HA!

I’d like to think they try their best, and they have done some good things. Tommy is all about animal rights. Nikki is partnered with Covenant House in California to help keep youth off the streets. Vince started the ‘Skylar Neil Memorial Fund’ to honour his daughter and raise money for children with various illnesses. However, even in recent years you’ve got battery charges, racial slurs, too much alcohol, general negligence, petty arguments, etc. A far cry from the trouble they used to cause, but battery is still battery, you know?

I like ‘The Dirt’. I like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ too. I like that all these rock biopics are being made and are catching peoples’ attention. For people who weren’t around in those years they paint a picture of what it might have been like to have existed in the time period. They provide me with some information about bands I have always listened to but never really took the time to research.

Most importantly, they pave way for a younger generation to discover just how great rock music is, and as someone who LOVES classic rock, I’ve been long awaiting its comeback. Even if you despise the men who made up Mötley Crüe, you have to admit, they have some fantastic songs. I would know. I’ve been listening to them nonstop for two weeks. This film did its job.

Rock’s not dead, it’s just on Netflix.

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