High Point University

‘The Dirt’ is the newest band movie released on Netflix

By Julie Burkett

Staff Writer

The Netflix original movie “The Dirt” came out on March 22, and was an instant success that many people, including High Point University students, were talking about. This movie’s plotline surrounds the 80’s Glam Metal band Motley Crue, which includes Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Vince Neil. The film stars Doug- las Booth, Colson Baker (Machine Gun Kelly), Daniel Webber and Iwan Rheon. Motley Crue was notorious in the ‘80s for partying, drinking and general mayhem. It seemed like their goal was to create good and hardcore music and cause mayhem whenever they wanted and wherever they went.

The plot consists of the bassist, Sixx, finding his future bandmates and trying to make it big in the Hollywood arena. “The Dirt” pays homage to “Motley Crue” by including many scenes of naked women, drugs and other rock star activities. Of the most memorable scenes, the grossest one is definitely when Ozzy Ozborne and the rest if Motley Crue drinks ants that are covered in their own urine at a hotel pool. The movie tries and somewhat succeeds to emulate the craziness that preceded the band’s reputation. Fans of Motley Crue should be happy and satisfied with this interpretation and killer soundtrack that includes all of their greatest hits.

The film also discusses heroin addiction and how Sixx was addicted to heroin for many years and almost overdosed and died because of it. The film does have a promising message that even the hardest core addict can still recover and stay clean. Sixx even overdoses and was pronounced legally dead; it has been described as a moment that nearly killed rock. After almost dying, Sixx went to rehab and tried to get clean. He has since been sober for 16 years and has said he tries to make sobriety look cool. Sixx is still alive today and remains sober for his daughter.

“I thought that the film was interesting, and I was excited to learn more about [Motley Crue,] but I thought it was a little too raunchy,” said HPU junior Lynn Cole. “I was happy that Nikki got clean in the end. It made the raunchy stuff have more of an impact in a positive way.”

The critics had some of the same viewpoints and said it hesitated to handle the more troubling aspects of the band’s history. Overall, this movie received mixed messages from the critics because of subpar acting and a basic storyline. Anyone who is a fan of the band will enjoy “The Dirt’s” tribute to the band, but movie fans who are not fans of the band will still find this film enjoyable to watch with a surprisingly good message.