What happens when punk rockers with a “F*** Authority” attitude grow up to be parents? I can tell you it’s a little weird. I had the same attitude, but as soon as I held my newborn daughter in my arms I found myself suddenly wanting rebellion, anti-establishment, and the do-want-you-wanna-do attitude to vanish. At least when it comes to her. I think in some way these guys do too.

The long and short of it is that The Other F Word is badass. I love most documentaries, but really love this one since it covers a topic that hits home.

It centers on Jim Lindberg, the singer from Pennywise, as he tries to balance life on the road and his house full of 3 daughters. I wish I had spoken with Jim because I admire him and other guys in his position. On one hand, as the lead singer of Pennywise, he has his band counting on him since their future and lifestyle depend on him going on the road for extended tours and on the other hand he has his family, back at home, depending on him also. He has to miss the things he holds dear in order to provide for them.

I can’t imagine burning hundreds of days on the road away from my little girl but he does what he’s gotta do. They are working-class guys who are grinding it out on-stage doing tours, playing songs they are probably sick to death of, all for their families.

The coolest aspect of The Other F Word was the great behind the scenes look into the world of your favorite punk icons. A lot of it is light and a good dose of reality, like watching Fat Mike make breakfast for a sleepy toddler, watching a playground clear out when Lars Frederiksen shows up with his son, or watching Tim McIlrath from Rise Against try and convince his shy daughter into singing along with him. You even get to see where Ron Reyes ended up after abruptly quitting Black Flag.

The movie isn’t all fun, sound bites, and music, there are some real heart-string-tugging moments. Like Art Alexakis from Everclear singing a heartbreaking rendition of “Father Of Mine” and talking about his childhood (he’s PISSED in case you didn’t know), or Duane Peters talking about a horrific car crash that claimed the life of one of his sons. There’s a particularly touching quote by Flea, who basically raised himself after running away at 12, that I’m not going to quote, but watching him well up and the priceless look on his daughter’s face made me well up too. Did I say I welled up? I meant to say there were ninjas chopping onions in the room.

By the end of the film I had a man-crush on Jim Lindberg. I found myself really rooting for him and amazed at the decision he came to (even though if you’re a fan of pennywise you already know what happened).

I also found myself wishing these bands got paid all the money they deserved back in the day so they COULD be home and not having to do world tours to keep income coming in.

Who’s in the movie?

Um, how about: Tony Adolescent, Art Alexakis, Rob Chaos, Joe Escalante, Josh Freese, Fat Mike, Flea, Lars Frederiksen, Matt Freeman, Jack Grisham, Brett Gurewitz, Tony Hawk, Greg Hetson, Mark Hoppus, Jim Lindberg, Mike McDermott, Tim McIlrath, Mark Mothersbaugh, Duane Peters, Joe Sib, Ron Reyes, Rick Thorne.

If you don’t know who some of these guys are then shame on you, go learn something: http://www.theotherfwordmovie.com/the-dads.html