‘Springsteen & I’ is Cinematic Love Letter to The Boss

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HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – I must admit that my fandom for Bruce Springsteen played a factor in how I responded to a review outreach for “Springsteen & I,” playing in special engagements around the country, including tonight, July 22, 2013 at AMC River East 21 and Regal City North 14 in Chicago (and again on July 30). If it had been called “Nickelback & I,” I probably wouldn’t have responded.

But I have long had an appreciation, borderline adoration, for The Boss, tracing back to loving “Born in the U.S.A.” and the underrated “Tunnel of Love” when I was a kid, to finding “Nebraska” and “Born to Run” in my twenties, to being blown away by the great “Magic” later in life. Bruce Springsteen rules. And this fan-driven documentary definitely gets to the root of why so many have been in love with this artist for so long while also missing the mark a bit simply by its narrow scope and some unusual directorial decisions in terms of editing. The fans are fun but the archival footage, including a large chunk of a live show that will play after the film to boost its meager running time, is the real draw.

Springsteen and I
Springsteen and I
Photo credit: Ridley Scott Associates

The conceit of “Springsteen & I” is simple – by the fans for the fans. There are no talking head interviews with the band or the hundreds of musicians influenced by The Boss. This is a film about the people who love Bruce. And it’s made up almost entirely of fan-submitted videos. A truck driver talks about how she feels when she hits the open road and “Nebraska” comes on. A man breaks into tears talking about the honesty of his favorite artist. Many of the fans recount their one-on-one experiences with Bruce, from the guy who ended up in the front row at Madison Square Garden to the guy who dressed like Elvis and ended up on stage. These are the moments that they’ll remember on their death beds and their love for Springsteen is impressive. He’s an artist that produces such passion.

While the fans are nice in limited quantities, the archival footage that connects a lot of the amateur video is the real draw of “Springsteen & I” for this viewer. Most of it feels shot by fans from the audience or just off-stage and so it has that “you are there” quality often missing from concert films. There’s a great, early performance of “Thunder Road,” in which Bruce looks like he’s no older than 25 (and it’s book-ended by a beautiful, piano-only version one in the concert after the doc. If anything, I wanted more of that “bootleg” performance quality, using the film not just to offer testimonials to the power of Bruce but to let us feel it. When the movie does that, capturing Springsteen in his most comfortable place, on stage, it really works. It makes me want to see a great, long bio-doc about the man a la Scorsese’s “No Direction Home” (On that note, “The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town” is really good but doesn’t capture the whole career like this artist deserves.)

Springsteen and I
Springsteen and I
Photo credit: Ridley Scott Associates

The problem with “Springsteen & I” comes down to editing. When a director is handed hours of fan-submitted videos, editing them down into a documentary becomes their most important assignment and the editing here can feel a bit off. We spend forever with Philly Elvis, recounting his experience singing with The Boss and then seeing a lot of it. Other interview subjects seem to be getting into something interesting and then they’re cut off by the director. I wanted more of some, less of others, and more archival footage in general.

“Springsteen & I” is a documentary that could have been streamlined and finetuned but fan letters to their favorite artists are often a bit sloppy. The shaggy dog form of “Springsteen & I” sometimes feels appropriate for an artist who’s always spoken to the average man. He deserves a slightly-less-average documentary about his fan base and stage presence but that will almost certainly come somewhere down the road. For now, just enjoy this tribute to one of the most important songwriters of all time.

“Springsteen & I” plays in limited engagements through Fathom Events. Click here for details.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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