New Documentary Depicts Fan’s Quest to Meet Metallica’s Lars Ulrich

I found out about this new documentary that highlights the life of a man with Fragile X Syndrome, and his siblings' assistance to help him meet his idol fixation, Lars Ulrich of Metallica.  Proceeds from the film will go directly to Mencap, an organization that works with people with learning disabilities and their families.

A new documentary titled ‘Mission to Lars’ centers on Tom Spicer, a learning disabled man who goes on a quest to meet his hero, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Spicer has Fragile X Syndrome, which is a sort of autism, and is helped on his journey by his brother and sister.

Kate and William Spicer hit the road with their brother Tom, traveling from the UK to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and beyond.  “We had this fantasy of hitting the road with Tom and recreating some of the magic of our teenage years cruising around in £100 cars, eating Burger King and listening to heavy metal on the tape deck,” says Kate. “We thought it would be fun, bonding. We wanted to do something good for our brother. We were also sick of him endlessly asking.”

Kate is a journalist and William a filmmaker, so they have experience in the music industry, but still ran across numerous obstacles in trying to fulfill their brother’s dream. Mencap, the British charity who works with learning disabled individuals, were involved in the making of the film.

The movie’s website says ‘Mission to Lars’ tells the story of the confusing family dynamics around learning disability, and portrays Tom as a complex and likeable character, and not as someone one sees first as learning disabled and everything else second.

In addition to entertaining the audience and raising awareness, ‘Mission to Lars’ is also giving all the profits from the film to Mencap. In June, there will be theatrical screenings of the documentary, which will also be used as outreach opportunities. The soundtrack includes music from Bob Dylan, Devandra Banhart and Blur.

Lars Ulrich himself has seen the movie, and according to the Spicer family, he likes it. Sounds like an interesting documentary with a great message for a worthy cause. In addition to some British screenings, the filmmakers plan on taking ‘Mission To Lars’ on the road.