A Conspiracy Documentary About Kurt and Courtney, ‘Soaked in Bleach’ is a Montage of Blecch

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Ever since the moment that Kurt Cobain’s body was discovered on April 8th, 1994, there have been plenty of people that have come forth believing that the front man of Nirvana did not commit suicide, but was murdered by his wife Courtney Love. At the forefront of the accusations aimed at Love is private investigator Tom Grant, who was once hired by Courtney Love over 20 years ago. With Grant as the basis, co-writer-producer-director Benjamin Statler has made Soaked in Bleach, a documentary which aims to blow the lid off the lingering conspiracy theory. Yet all Statler and Grant are able to do is present flimsy evidence supported by shoddy reenactments, repeating the same tired story that has circulated since Cobain’s death.

Before unraveling the details of the deadly conspiracy, the filmmakers introduce us to Tom Grant. First we’re presented with his backstory as a member of the LA County Sherriff’s Department, a job he left to start his own private investigator firm. We’re told that Grant left the department in good standing and had an impeccable record, yet we’re never given any corroborating evidence as to that record – only investigative journalist Max Wallace, who has written two books on the subject based on Grant’s evidence, proclaiming that Grant’s record is beyond question. Of course, corroborating evidence is one of Soaked in Bleach’s greatest shortcomings.

Much of the evidence the film presents are recorded phone calls between Grant and Love, as well as Love’s entertainment lawyer Rosemary Carroll. However, nobody that is even tangentially related to the case are presented to corroborate any of these recordings’ authenticity. People such as Carroll and Dylan Carlson, a friend of Cobain’s who was also the registered owner of the fatal shotgun, don’t participate in the movie in any manner, though they’re supposed to be the keys to unlocking this mystery. It makes it harder to take these tapes at face value when there’s a noticeable difference in audio quality between sentences, or that the film cuts away from these tapes in favor of presenting reenactments worthy of Lifetime television. I’m sorry, I’ve already seen a documentary use questionable tapes to “prove” events surrounding an entertainer’s death before.

The reenactments at least provide the film with a bit of unintentional humor. These scenes, which are meant to fill in for hard evidence, feature a young actress cast as Courtney Love, seemingly hired only  because she was blonde. As hard as she tries, she cannot avail herself well with the cartoonish dialogue that these reenactments present – think of Courtney Love as the original Gone Girl. “Go save the American icon, Tom,” she exclaims to the actor I recognize from countless commercials playing Grant. (I’m leaving their names out of it because they’re hired hands in this Montage of Blecch.) How anyone thought these shlocky scenes would sway anyone is a conspiracy theory in and of itself.

Soaked in Bleach tries to take on the typical counter-arguments to their labyrinth of lies. They speak to friends, including “Nirvana’s first drummer” and “Nirvana’s first manager,” though the film fails to present any evidence that really ties them to Cobain – old show flyers are presented but no pictures of anybody actually with Cobain. These anecdotal interviews are used to illustrate that Kurt Cobain was more upbeat than believed. Combined with a couple of interviews from ’93 and ’94, they attempt to prove that Kurt Cobain wasn’t depressed. It makes perfect sense if you believe that somebody who was depressed would never just say they’re fine. Max Wallace asserts that the suicide attempt in Rome, months before Cobain’s actual suicide, wasn’t actually a suicide attempt, just an accidental overdose. His evidence is the official story from the Cobain camp following the incident was accidental overdose, and he interviewed the doctor – Wallace says this while footage from the doctor’s press conference plays, nothing besides the author’s word to back up the claim.

The conspiracy presented here posits that Seattle Police Department isn’t in on the conspiracy, only their incompetence falls in line with Courtney Love’s murder plot. Among the most absurdly amusing interview is former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper, who says that if he were police chief now, he’d reopen the case. Never mind that he was police chief from 1994-2000, plenty of time to examine the evidence. It also focuses extensively on inconsistencies in reporting in regards to the placement of a stool and Kurt’s driver’s license being outside of his wallet. All of which only proves the nature of early inconsistent reporting, not the clues to a murderous conspiracy. Then again, this is a documentary that disputes how a shotgun shell that should’ve ejected to the right ended up to the left of Cobain. The film then shows an animated recreation, the voiceover explaining that only an obstruction could’ve changed the trajectory of the shell, completely ignoring the hand and arm positioned right next to where the shell would eject.

Most damning of all, Soaked in Bleach is film that tries to prove that Courtney Love is a conniving murderess who has pulled off the perfect crime for the past 20 years. Think about that for a second. No, really think about it. This is such a carelessly assembled case that they didn’t even consider that a film critic with an affection for Mad Magazine would want to employ “Soaked in Blecch” or “Montage of Blecch” in describing their film. I’m fairly certain if you asked the makers of Soaked in Bleach about Occam’s razor, they’d tell you they use Gillette.

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