Nickelback are, by any measure, a hugely successful rock band. They've sold over 50 million records, they play massive arenas around the world, and their fans are feverishly devoted.
They are also deeply despised, arguably beyond the point of fairness. The film's trailer makes the argument that they're "the most hated band in the world", and anyone who's spent time on the internet over the past 20 years or so would probably agree.
On the poster for their new documentary, Hate To Love: Nickelback, we see the band — five rugged middle-aged men — posing in typical middle-aged rock-star fashion. Frontman Chad Kroeger holds up an older photograph of the band, a direct reference to the meme spawned from one of their biggest songs, Photograph.
It's not much to go on, but at surface level, it seems like a nod to the complexity of their standing in popular culture. And it suggests that Nickelback might be heading down the road of self-awareness, like how Metallica let it all hang out in their timeless 2004 doco Some Kind Of Monster.
Alas, what they deliver is nothing more than a meat and potatoes rock doc about a meat and potatoes rock band that will delight fans and bore the hell out of the rest of us.
A wasted opportunity
Nickelback's early story is mildly interesting, but mainly predictably familiar.
A bunch of young guys from a small town — in this case the Canadian outpost of Hanna, Alberta — start a band. They borrow money from guitarist Ryan Peake's parents to cut a CD, they travel in a terrible van to play gigs in grotty clubs to barely any people, and they love every second of it.
"To those of you who see this band as some big, corporate sell out … um, f**k you!", Canadian lawyer and music executive Jonathan Simkin says.
This explicit suggestion that their early struggle gives Nickelback an extra shot of credibility is laughable at best and offensive at worst. Do you know who else travelled in a shitty van to play shitty clubs in their early years? Just about every other rock band that ever existed.
Unfortunately, the argument against Nickelback hatred that's promised in its title doesn't really go too far beyond Simkin's contention. If you're not on board? F**k you.
There's no attempt to unpack what it is about the band that provokes such potent love and disdain, which is a wasted opportunity for a film that sorely needs something deeper than a Wikipedia-style retelling of the band's history.
No one has skin thick enough to fully withstand a barrage of criticism as brutal as what's directed at Nickelback. No number of sold-out arenas or platinum records can completely soothe the sting that comes with knowing your creative outlet is essentially a punchline.
And so the film's most engrossing moments are when the band and their families respond to the contention that Nickelback are indeed the worst band on the planet.
Frontman Chad Kroeger cops it the worst and seems genuine when saying he can shrug off around 90 per cent of the hate.
Sadly, we don't get much more than that out of him and, as such, there's nothing to make us reconsider our decision to publicly decry the band's "stripper songs, blowjob songs and party anthems". A touch more vulnerability around this issue might make us think twice the next time we compare him to the Paddle Pop Lion.
The closest a Nickelback hater with a heart will get to reconsidering their feverish dismissal of the band comes when guitarist Mike Kroeger's children admit they are mercilessly bullied because of what their dad does for a living.
In that moment, and that moment alone, it feels like the joke has gone too far. That maybe people who hate Nickelback just need to chill out.
Rockumentary by numbers
One of the most prevalent and fairest criticisms of Nickelback is the formulaic nature of their songwriting. The same can be said for Hate To Love: Nickelback.
Through a combination of talking head interviews and footage of live performances, we get a simple telling of the ups and downs of being in a band, and life in middle age.
Some records are smash hits (All The Right Reasons), some perform disappointingly (The Long Road). They cycle through drummers, struggle with serious illnesses, and even raise their kids on the road.
There are nuggets of genuinely interesting information. The band almost single-handedly keeping legendary metal label Roadrunner Records afloat is impressive; Chad Kroeger's admission that he "does not have an identity without the band" is illuminating; and their general camaraderie is heartwarming. Nickelback seem like good enough guys who treat their fans well and just wanna do what they do.
"I play Nickelback songs to Nickelback fans," Chad says. "I don't need to try and win over someone who doesn't like my band. That sounds like a very strange form of torture, probably for both of us."
The same can be said about this film. Unlike broadly appealing films like Some Kind Of Monster and Anvil! The Story of Anvil, this is very much a Nickelback movie for Nickelback fans. They will relish this portrayal of their rock'n'roll heroes and will lap up the clips of the band performing live that close out the film.
Anyone looking for a deeper look at the toxicity of online pile-ons, or a measured discussion around how one band can inspire so much ire will be left feeling empty.
Nickelback: Hate To Love is streaming now on Veeps.