moonspinner55 Review of Kurt & Courtney

Kurt & Courtney (1998)

An attempt to turn gossip and rumors into a conspiracy theory...pure balderdash

[1/10 · 20 October 2010]

Director Nick Broomfield makes a feeble attempt to retrace the troubled childhoods of grunge rock stars and one-time married couple Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, but his 'investigative' work uncovering possible murder scenarios in Cobain's shotgun-induced suicide chews up the bulk of this threadbare documentary. Shorn of Nirvana's music due to Love's swift legal action, the film sounds just as hollow as all the inherent melodrama plays out, with Love's estranged biological father, Cobain's aunt, and a bankrupt private investigator Broomfield's only real attractions. There's also a quick, ridiculous interview with pseudo-rocker El Duce, who claims that Love offered him 50 G's to "blow Kurt's head off" (El Duce himself later dies in a mysterious accident--more conspiracy theories!). It's a hapless, hopeless piece of work, with guerrilla filmmaking tactics that make Michael Moore's documentaries look like Scorsese by comparison. NO STARS from ****