The Dirt, 2019

The Dirt is a 2019 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jeff Tremaine from a screenplay by Rich Wilkes and Amanda Adelson, about heavy metal/glam metal band Mötley Crüe. The film stars Douglas Booth, Colson Baker, Daniel Webber and Iwan Rheon.

TRAILER

PLOT

In 1973, Frank Carlton Feranna Jr. walks away from his mother Deana after years of abuse and moves from Seattle to Los Angeles in 1978. After a failed attempt to connect with his biological father who abandoned the family at birth, Frank legally changes his name to "Nikki Sixx" in 1980. A year later, after a falling out with members of London at the Whisky a Go Go, Nikki befriends drummer Tommy Lee and reveals to him that he is forming a new band. Joining the band is guitarist Mick Mars, who suffers from ankylosing spondylitis. The trio then recruit Tommy's high school friend Vince Neil from the cover band Rockandi as lead vocalist, and after some brainstorming, the quartet name themselves Mötley Crüe.

Despite a brawl with some crowd members, Mötley Crüe's first gig at the Starwood is well-received. They progressively sell out night clubs all over Los Angeles and rookie producer Tom Zutaut of Elektra Records approaches them with a five-album deal. They sign Doc McGhee as their manager. During their first national tour, the band is given advice by Ozzy Osbourne to know the limits of their partying before he snorts some ants and licks his and Nikki's urine on the pool floor. Before long, the band's albums go platinum and they each spend millions of dollars as fast as they earn them. Vince marries mud wrestler Sharise Ruddell, while Tommy announces his engagement to a woman named Roxie, but after his mother calls her a groupie, they get into a heated argument and Tommy punches Roxie in the face.

On December 8, 1984, during a party at Vince's home in Redondo Beach, California Tommy meets Heather Locklear, while Vince and Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle drive out to buy more drinks. They get into a car accident that kills Razzle, and has Vince sentenced to 30 days in jail for vehicular manslaughter, which is subsequently reduced to 19 days. Nikki becomes addicted to heroin and starts to display destructive behavior towards his bandmates. He fires McGhee for bringing Deana to visit him. On December 23, 1987, shortly after Tommy and Heather's wedding, Nikki overdoses on heroin and is initially declared dead, but a paramedic who is a fan of the band brings him back to life with two shots of adrenaline. Following this, Nikki has the band go to rehab. A sober Mötley Crüe rebounds in 1989 with Dr. Feelgood, which becomes their first number one album on the Billboard 200, followed by a lengthy world tour. The months of touring and staying sober take their toll on Vince and Tommy, who resort to drinking again after being away from their families for too long.

Following the tour, Vince discovers that Sharise and their daughter Skylar have left him, causing him to miss several rehearsals and eventually part ways with the band in 1992. The band then hires John Corabi as his replacement. In 1995, Skylar dies of stomach cancer at the age of four, while Heather divorces Tommy after he is caught having an affair with a porn star two years earlier. Mick starts to abuse painkillers as the disease is starting to overwhelm his body and movement. Seeing the backlash by fans over Vince's departure from the band, Nikki negotiates with Zutaut to give them back the rights to their songs in exchange for their release from Elektra Records. After visiting his father's grave, Nikki regroups with Tommy and Mick, who has had hip surgery, before they reconcile with Vince. Mötley Crüe would perform together for another 20 years, playing their final show on New Year's Eve 2015.

CAST

Douglas Booth as Nikki Sixx, Mötley Crüe's bassist

Trace Masters and Vince Robert Mattis play eight-year-old and 14-year-old Sixx (then known by his birth name of Frank Feranna Jr.), respectively

Iwan Rheon as Mick Mars, Mötley Crüe's guitarist who suffers from Ankylosing spondylitis

Colson Baker as Tommy Lee, Mötley Crüe's drummer

Daniel Webber as Vince Neil, Mötley Crüe's lead vocalist

Pete Davidson as Tom Zutaut, an Elektra Records executive

David Costabile as Doc McGhee, Mötley Crüe’s longtime manager

Leven Rambin as Sharise Ruddell-Neil, Vince’s wife who is a mud wrestler and a model

Kathryn Morris as Deana Richards, Nikki's mother

Rebekah Graf as Heather Locklear, Tommy's second wife

Tony Cavalero as Ozzy Osbourne, former lead vocalist of Black Sabbath struggling with drug addiction who headlined one of Mötley Crüe's earlier tours

Max Milner as Razzle, drummer of Hanoi Rocks

Katherine Neff as Lovey, Vince's first girlfriend

Jordan Lane Price as Roxie, Tommy's first fiancée, who prior to their breakup was having an affair with Nikki

Christian Gehring as David Lee Roth, lead vocalist of Van Halen

Anthony Vincent Valbiro as John Corabi, Mötley Crüe's second lead vocalist (1992–95) after Vince's departure from the band

Kamryn Ragsdale as Skylar Neil, Vince's daughter who died of cancer

Iris D'Aquin and Lyra D'Aquin play two-year-old Skylar

Melanie Hebert as an MTV VJ

Courtney Dietz as Athena Lee, a musician and Tommy’s younger sister

Joe Chrest as David Lee, Tommy’s father

Elena Evangelo as Voula Lee, Tommy’s mother

Michael Hodson as Rodney Feranna, Nikki's half-brother

Alyssa Marie Stilwell as Kayla

Rating: 8 Stars