God Bless Ozzy Osbourne

Produced by his son Jack, this conventional yet clear-eyed documentary looks at the life of Ozzy Osbourne, including his formative years with Black Sabbath. In the present day segments—shot over a 3-year period—Ozzy embarks on a world tour and celebrates his 60th birthday with wife Sharon, kids, and Sabbath's Bill Ward, but most of the running time retraces his biography, starting with his childhood in Birmingham, England. Speakers include his sister Iris, band mates Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi, and friends and fans such as Henry Rollins and Paul McCartney. The Sabbath members have happy memories of their music, but regrets about substance abuse, citing cocaine and alcohol as particularly devastating addictions. Says Ozzy's oldest son, Louie, “When he was around and he wasn't pissed, he was a great father”; but he wasn't around much, and by the time Never Say Die was released, the group had reluctantly kicked him out. After that, Osbourne joined forces with guitarist Randy Rhoads, but a plane crash ended that collaboration, and he continued to burrow ever deeper into the bottle (rocker Tommy Lee shares some hair-raising tales about a tour with Mötley Crüe in the 1980s). Meanwhile, Ozzy got divorced, married Sharon, had more children, and drank his way through a reality-TV series. Co-directors Mike Fleiss and Mike Piscitelli combine vintage clips with contemporary footage and interviews. In the end, the film becomes a tale of recovery, as Jack gives up booze and inspires his father to do the same. DVD extras include a Q&A session with Ozzy and Jack, deleted scenes, and film festival clips. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)