Dannify Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Rated TV-MA for nudity, drug use, language, violent / disturbing scenes. In other words, not recommended for kids.
Whether you are a fan of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain or not, this documentary was definitely worth the watch. So many times, we tend to look at a person and judge them without thinking about all the possible things that could be going on behind closed doors or in their heads. This movie is an excellent example of that. I was a teen in the 90’s. I remember when Nirvana came out with their hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I was in 8th grade and they played it at our annual dance and everyone was dancing to it. Nirvana’s Nevermind definitely THE tape to have in your tape player (haha remember those?!!) or if you were cool enough to have a CD player, you got their CD! The album art was very controversial as it had a naked baby on the cover and you could see his baby parts. Kids would get sent home in my school for wearing the T-shirt. Back in the day, they had a deodorant for girls called Teen Spirit, which I used, so I thought that the song was about people wearing Teen Spirit deodorant. Keep in mind, I was a naive, sweet, and innocent 13 years old! I always liked their music, but I was never like “OMG, you gotta get me tickets to see Nirvana!.” My husband however is a huge Nirvana fan. He must have every concert they ever did on DVD. I have seen several of them. Since being with him, he has shared his love of the band and tried teaching me some chords on the guitar from “Come As You Are,” which I was terrible performing. I have grown to appreciate the band musically since then.
When I saw they were making a movie about Kurt Cobain, I knew I had to see it. I could tell from the lyrics and the fact that he committed suicide that there was something deep and troubling with him and I wanted to see into his past. Writer and Director Brett Morgan produced a documentary that will definitely leave you feeling a string of emotions. We get to see old film footage of young Kurt, hear journal entries, see some band footage, and get different info from various people in Kurt Cobain’s life. One thing you definitely get from this documentary is that he was a very disturbed person. But I guess when neither of your parents want to raise you and dump you on one another you could be affected. It seemed like he was just longing for stability and love at an early age, and the lack of it took its toll on him. Also, Kurt and Courtney show us why we don’t want to do heroin. We get to see the tenderness and love that Kurt had for his daughter Frances. Unfortunately, that love for her wasn’t enough to keep him hanging on.
I gave this documentary 4 out of 5 stars because I felt that all the work that was put into the documentary was great, however the ending was abrupt and left me feeling like they just were ready to end it. Maybe that is because that is how Kurt ended his life. I expected a collage of video footage and or photos playing set to a Nirvana song at least. I also expected an interview from David Grohl, but he was in the middle of producing a movie and on the road and the movie was wrapped up and edited by the time he was able to sit with the director. I feel like there was so much more that we could have learned from Kurt, his family, and his friends that we didn’t get to see. But what we did see was worth it.
Once again, even if you detest Nirvana or Kurt Cobain, I recommend this watch. If anything, just watch it to see inside of a mind who has so much to tell. He was very troubled. You may see some of his tendencies in someone you know or don’t know. Maybe you see them in yourself. But this is a reminder that suicide is very real and sometimes being nice, listening, and being a friend is enough to help someone make it through the end of a day. Even if it doesn’t, they at least leave the world knowing that they were loved and that their life wasn’t meaningless. And if you are one of the ones who need help, I hope you can watch it and see the effect that it has on others and maybe talk to someone.
I would love to hear what you think of the movie! Leave a comment!