Douglas Booth

Daniel Webber

Iwan Rheon

Pete Davidson

David Costabile

Aaron Jay Rome

Alyssa Marie Stilwell

Brittany Furlan

Trace Masters

Erin Ownbey

Matthew Underwood

Kathryn Morris

Vince Mattis

Mark Ashworth

Avis-Marie Barnes

Eleanor Threatt

Joe Chrest

Elena Evangelo

Courtney Dietz

Kabby Borders

Carol Ann Scruggs

Peter Jaymes Jr.

Katherine Neff

Bernard Hocke

David Kallaway

Ethan McGee

Betsy Holt

Sylvia Grace Crim

Lucius Falick

Christian Gehring

Alexanne Wagner

Melanie Hebert

Tony Cavalero

Leven Rambin

Max Milner

Jordan Lane Price

Kristin Brock

Rebekah Graf

Scott Walker

Iris D'Aquin

Lyra D'Aquin

Joshua Mikel

Blaine Kern III

Martin Bats Bradford

Anthony Marble

Kamryn Ragsdale

Anthony Vincent Valbiro

Ladson Deyne

Michael Hodson

Martin Covert

Kennedy Anthony

Michael Anthony

Katira Banks

Charles Barber

William Buster Benefield

Johnathan Calton

Kadrolsha Ona Carole

Alisha Carter

Mary Cazes

Devin Lord Chachere

Rebecca Chulew

Renee Compton

Karen Dalferes

Gordon Dexheimer

Sean P Douglas

John Frederick

Chad Governale

Sammy Hagar

Forrest Jade

Zelda Kimble

Steve Kish

Tommy Lee

Gary Wayne Loper

Jocelyn-Brooke Manuel

Mick Mars

Woodrow Eduard McCarthy

Mike R. Moreau

Christopher Morris

Vince Neil

Erik Olsen

Edward Parker

Sean Powell

Lindsey Reimann

Helena Sadvary

Leanne Scarbro

Nikki Sixx

Clayton Smith

Toney Chapman Steele

Jessica Dawson Strong

Richard Blake Suarez

Sue-Lynn Ansari

Meiyee Apple Tam

Alex Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen

Amanda Marie Wilkinson

Jeff Tremaine

Rich Wilkes

Barbara Fiorentino

Michelle Manning

Rick Yorn

Ben Ormand

Christine Wada

Chris Nilsson

Steve Kline

Melanie Jones

Hunter Brown

Selina van den Brink

Ron Tansingco

Amanda Adelson

Toby Oliver

Melissa Kent

Taryn Terrell

Julie Yorn

Neil Strauss

Allen Kovac

Natalie Padilla

Paul Haslinger

Heather Arthur

Jonathan Arthur

Zack Kutcher

Juliene Joyner

Joe Dryden

Kenny Bartram

Stanton Barrett

Aaron Matthews

Eddie Matthews

Adam Rivette

Eric Stratemeier

Michael Yahn

Eddie Yansick

Brian Philpot

Nico Coucke

Liam Day

Drama

Music

History

Comedy

The Dirt

10th Street Entertainment

Estrella Media

Gorilla Flicks

United States of America

***One of the most entertaining music biopics ever made (but also nastiest)***  

RELEASED IN 2019, "The Dirt" is a biography of Mötley Crüe from their inception in the early 80s to the mid-90s. Along with GnR, the band was the cream of the crop of 80’s hair metal. They were notorious for their childish, debauched antics and the movie depicts this from the get-go with an off-putting bit o’ raunch at a party. There’s also an amusing pool sequence that gets pretty repellent with Ozzy pathetically trying to prove how “crazy” he was (I heard the curious story long ago so I was prepared for it).

If you can handle that, this is one of the best band biopics in cinema; and more so if you favor Crüe’s music. The movie has a sense of humor and includes a little parody; it’s fun, dynamic, stirring and sometimes vile, but also dramatic and even moving, especially in the last act. A plus is that most of the characters have a story arc wherein they learn from their misdeeds and mature. 

The flick was based on drummer Tommy Lee’s autobiography “The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band,” as well as the biographies of other band members & Co. So, while there’s an over-the-top feel here and there, the events really happened with minor alterations for dramatic effect.

The best way to rate a biopic is to compare it to others, including fictional ones loosely based on real-life characters, like “Rock Star” (2001) and “The Rose” (1979). As decent as those two are, “The Dirt” is all-around more entertaining. It’s also superior to “Walk the Line” (2005), the slanderous “The Doors” (1991), the underrated “The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll” (2009), "Eddie and the Cruisers” (1983) and "The Runaways" (2010). I’d put it on par with “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1980), but it’s very different because the style of music and subculture is so radically different. Content-wise, it’s closest to “Rock Star,” "The Runaways" and “The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” but funner than the brooding latter.

Douglas Booth is convincing as Nikki Sixx, the band leader/bassist/composer and so is Machine Gun Kelly as the hyperactive, but genial Tommy Lee. Iwan Rheon is also effective as the more mature and subdued guitarist Mick Mars. Daniel Webber unfortunately lacks the looks of singer Vince Neil, but is otherwise effective.    

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 47 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles and New Orleans.

GRADE: A

English

The Dirt | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix