Metallica is forced to examine their nature and their very existence as bassist Jason Newsted quits the band and frontman James Hetfield abruptly leaves the group to enter a rehabilitation facility due to alcohol abuse . Metallica 's management Q-Prime hires " performance-enhancing coach " Phil Towle to help the group better understand one another as friends , bandmates , and human beings . When the members of Metallica eventually decide that Towle 's services are no longer required , Towle attempts to convince them that they still need him , saying " We 've still got some trust issues that I think we need to sort out . " Former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine also appears briefly in a scene in which , as part of Lars Ulrich 's therapy , he confronts the guitarist on September 13 , 2001 , regarding the decision to fire him early in the band 's career for his excessive drinking . On top of the core relationship issues discussed during this meeting are two considerations specific to the date that it took place that will help aware viewers understand the tension and frustration in the room . First , the scene with Mustaine and Ulrich was filmed precisely two days after the September 11 attacks : a day when the entire United States was in a severe state of melancholy . Secondly , this coincidentally also just happened to be Dave Mustaine 's 40th birthday . For many years , until the burying of the hatchet between him and Metallica , Mustaine would grouse that he would much rather have spent his 40th birthday in Arizona with his wife and kids rather than on a couch in the Bay Area talking to Lars , even though the two had not had any serious personal contact for many years . In the meeting , Mustaine speaks frankly about his resentment stemming from his dismissal without the opportunity to redeem himself with an alcoholism treatment program ; a point of view that Ulrich concedes he had never considered before . Mustaine also speaks of how , despite achieving success with his own group Megadeth , he still endures ridicule from Metallica fans , which has diminished the enjoyment of his own success
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Some Kind of Monster (film)