METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER (2004)  **1/2

Sometimes meandering and sometimes not very cohesive documentary on the heavy metal band, yet when it’s over, every band member has been thoroughly humanized and one can appreciate the trials and tribulations they went through to get out their latest album. Lead singer James Hetfield, who wears a bit of a machismo mask, and drummer Lars Ulrich, who is intelligent but a little too sensitive, are unsuccessful at stifling their egos while dim guitarist Kirk Hammett gets caught in the middle. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky could work on editing the thing down, which at 2 hours and 15 minutes gets a bit repetitive. The opening half hour especially is grating with each transition coming with yet another stock electric guitar riff. A must-see of course for Metallica fans, but if you hate heavy metal music, stay far away.