Springsteen & I - Funny, Cheesy but Entertaining.

On Monday night I attended the global launch of the Ridley Scott produced movie 'Springsteen & I'. Essentially the film is made up of a series of clips of Springsteen fans documenting their thoughts about the artist and what he means to their lives. These clips are interspersed with a variety of live shots of The Boss from various stages of his career and many have not been shown publicly before now.

Whilst the live performances were mainly very good, watching these strangers reveal their innermost feelings about their hero, was occasionally an uncomfortable experience. On the other hand, it was also incredibly funny and I found myself veering between cringing and laughing out loud.

I don't wish to give too much away but perhaps the most cringeworthy moment occurred when an American mom revealed that she used to show her young child a framed photo of Bruce and say, "Daddy!". Goodness only knows what psychological damage she has done to the poor innocent child. Yeuk!

Conversely, the moment when Bruce invites 'Philadelphia Elvis' (Nick Ferraro) onto the stage to perform 'All Shook Up' is amazingly funny. Midway through the number 'Elvis' calls for Bruce to do a guitar solo but then realises that 'All Shook Up' doesn't have a guitar solo. The E Street band quickly bail him out by deftly switching to 'Blue Suede Shoes'. It is an hilarious sequence.

Not all people featured in the movie are Bruce fans however. Witness the long suffering husband who accompanies his wife to Springsteen concerts. When asked if he has a message for Bruce, he replies, 'Could you just make the shows a little shorter?' Needless to say, he doesn't get his wish.

The film itself lasted a mere seventy five minutes and I found my opinions to be rather mixed but the film was then followed by some glorious footage from last year's Hard Rock Calling at London's Hyde Park. About six or seven songs were shown of the band entertaining a rain soaked audience (I know, cos I was there) until Bruce and special guest Sir Paul McCartney were ushered from the stage.

This sequence was duly followed by an epilogue to the main film in which six of the main characters featured are brought together and get to meet their hero. There is much hugging and swapping of anecdotes and one gets the opinion that Bruce has brought something special into the lives of these people and he is just a good guy after all. Which is, I suppose, the purpose of the whole venture. The epilogue rounds the whole thing off nicely and I left feeling that it had all been very entertaining. There is, as you would expect, some terrific music. Also there are heart warming moments and plenty of laughs to counteract the times when you really will want to cringe.

Go see it if you get the chance.