Mission To Lars
Mission to Lars
Some family road trips just seem like a bad idea. When Kate and William Spicer decide to take their brother to meet his idol, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, 9,000 kilometres from their home in Britain, it is on the one hand an act of supreme sibling generosity.
But Tom Spicer has Fragile X Syn- drome, an autism-like condition that means he’s at his best with routines, regular meals, familiar places, quiet environments and the like. A transatlantic flight, followed by a heavymetal concert, sounds like a torturous excursion.
Kate, a journalist when she’s not trying to set up a meeting with Lars, occupies most of the film’s 77 minutes of screen time. She also expresses their doubts, which are legion. Will Tom back out before their flight to America? Will he refuse to attend the concert? (He does at one point, but fortunately they’ve booked tickets at several.)
William stays behind the camera, co-directing with James Moore and following his older siblings as they drive their rented camper van through Nevada and California in the wake of Metallica’s latest tour. Kate is working the phone, trying to make contact with Lars’s people and arrange a meeting. Tom, expressive though not too loquacious, mostly says yes or no to her suggestions. Worryingly, he opts for “no” a lot.
The documentary has the somewhat loose feel of a family movie, which I suppose is what it is. A brief stop in Sacramento allows them to connect with an expert on Fragile X Syndrome, who helpfully explains its inheritance and symptoms. And then it’s off to find Lars again.
Mission to Lars, which opened in the U.K. way back in the summer of ’12, has the benefit of screening here on the same weekend as The Martian, which creates a nice synergy. It’s a good thing Tom liked the drummer, although a clever filmmaker could have made something out of guitarists Hetfield and Hammett — hailing James and Kirk, perhaps. ★★ ½