FILM REVIEW – THE DIRT

Motley Crue published a book eighteen years ago that would become a staple in rock collections worldwide. One that showed the depravity that was rife in Hollywood, containing 448 pages of sex, drugs, abuse, murder, heartbreak, and tales from the Sunset Strip. It was described by Rolling Stone as “Utterly Revolting”. That book was their collaborative autobiography The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band.

Fast forward two decades to a world where moral compasses have flipped, and it leaves you wondering whether a film adaptation could cut it today. I was holding my excitement until it was out thanks to several false starts, but the wait is over as it finally made it to our screens yesterday.

Expectations in the run-up seemed to be in two camps, those who thought it was a write-off from the start and weren’t expecting much, and those praying it wouldn’t suck. I was one of those praying it didn’t suck, and I’m glad to say I wasn’t disappointed (much).

Yes, there are factual inaccuracies and stories told in a slightly different sequence, but to be fair it does say it’s based on a true story. I liked the way they acknowledged some of the inaccuracies by characters stopping for quirky side notes throughout. I especially liked the one where Mick Mars (Iwan Rheon) points out they ignore a well-respected member of their management team, Doug Thaler.

The Dirt made me laugh, gasp, shout at the devil (aka TV) and cry, especially the scenes where Razzle and Vince’s daughter Skylar died. Overall I found it an entertaining film and left me wanting to be in the 80s, in the ‘bow necking shots of JD and watching fights erupt.

Motley Crue back in 1985, photo by Mark Weiss

The actors who played the band members were good, especially Machine Gun Kelly (Tommy Lee) and Douglas Booth (Nikki Sixx), but there were quite a few cringe-worthy moments that made the film lose sparkle. The most notable gaffe was Tony Cavalero who got Ozzy Osbourne’s mannerisms down to a tee but lost credibility when he spoke. Being a Brummie I was surprised to hear my homeboy talk in an Australian accent, surely someone could have popped a couple of episodes of Peaky Blinders in Tony’s trailer for inspiration.

John Corabi (Antony Vincent Valbiro) was completely silent and given little airtime, which I found quite frankly bizarre and that’s where the film went south for me. It recollected the early years well, but seemed to gloss over some quite chunky subjects, like Nikki recovering from his heroin addiction, and the well-documented love life of Tommy and Pamela.

It’s impossible to cover everything that Motley Crue got up to but it did leave me feeling a bit cheated at the end. Once Netflix agreed to back it, leaving it unshackled from the restrictions that a cinematic release brings, maybe they could have changed the format to a mini-series to allow more time for the Corabi era, Nikki’s path to sobriety, and other notable stories.

Nonetheless, it was an entertaining movie that I enjoyed and it’s out now on Netflix for you to do the same, so grab a bottle of JD, sit back and enjoy the ride. However, if you haven’t read the book yet and want to experience a blow by blow account (literally), load up The Dirt soundtrack below and grab a copy of that instead.

7/10