Bruce Springsteen & I

Producer Ridley Scott and his company Scott Free productions made the crowd-sourced documentary 'Life in a Day' which comprised of video clips submitted by people around the world.

Springsteen & I follows a similar route as we see a selection of clips sent by Springsteen fans mixed with some concert footage of Bruce.

Of all the performers out there, Springsteen is a sensible choice. He is not the latest fad who will disappear after a few albums, or an old dinosaur living off past hits for years on end but someone still releasing new material, touring with new material. He has a worldwide fan base spanning a few decades.

Obviously Springsteen fans would appreciate this the most. The documentary stands and fall by the contributors and here some of it is lacking and rather dull. A bit too much of we love Bruce but little of any real substance.

Some of the best stories were for example the Philly Elvis who managed to get on stage and sing Elvis songs with Bruce or the guy who got dumped and managed to talk to Bruce and have his request played as well as a street busker who managed to get Bruce to sing with him. (Although rather a few famous singers end up singing with buskers these days as YouTube is full of those clips.)

There is one British contributor who states Bruce means love for his partner, because for her he endures listening to his music and going to his concerts which are by the way too long as far as he is concerned.

Another contributor also from Britain tells the story how he went to New York to see him in concert only to find he had tickets where the seats were right at the back of the stadium (I know how he feels as it's happened to me a few times) and then a mysterious man upgraded him to the best seats in the house (which has never happened to me.)

These stories were few and far between and you gather that some of the contributions were probably not that good.

1/15/18. If you love Bruce Springsteen, then this rockumentary is for you! A nice mix of fan love and concert footage meant to please fans of all stripes and sizes.

Wow! I haven't had this good a time at the movies for some time.

Usually when I post reviews I mull things over for quite a while but I wanted to put my two cents in while this is ultra fresh. What a great tribute to The Boss. The people who live, breathe and identify with Springsteen's music get the spotlight and showcase in the best possible way why we, the fans, like the man so much.

The stories they tell range from funny to really touching to downright hilarious on occasion. The way Springsteen connects with his audience is really special and it's displayed through some well chosen clips from relatively recent shows. The rare footage from live shows from way back-when is also a real treat for the die-hard fans.

I identified with a lot of the people and most likely every viewer will find something they related to as well. I'm a Springsteen nut so, to me, this was a perfect night at the movies. 10 out of 10.

As an added bonus there was a six song show/compilation from the Hyde Park concert last year (knockout performances of "Shackled and Drawn" and "We are Alive") that concluded with the Beatles songs "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist and Shout" with Paul McCartney. Seeing it in a theater with the sound yanked up way high is the next best thing to actually being at a Springsteen concert.

And that "Epilogue" was fun too. Seeing those fans meet the man and how gracious Springsteen seems to be; well it was a great ending to a fantastic film and show.

If anyone has ever wondered what the big deal with Springsteen is...well; "Springsteen and I" is the response I would give.

Springsteen & I (2013)

*** (out of 4)

This documentary was pretty much made by the fans are is certainly aimed for those die-hard fans who listen to E Street Radio and like to exchange stories about their favorite songs, albums and tours. This documentary features a bunch of footage from Springsteen fans who sent in videos expressing their love of his music as well as several stories with people who were able to either meet him or get on stage to sing with him. Throughout the running time we get some extremely good stories but as you'd expect there are also a few moments where things get a tad bit creepy but this here is just fandome. I'm sure fans are really going to love hearing these stories from other fans including some of the more tender moments including a couple who have been Bruce fans their entire lives but are always broke when he's on tour so they can't see him. Another involves a man dressed as Elvis who wants to get up on stage with his idol. Then, there's a terrific story about a guy whose girlfriend breaks up with him just before the concert. The film also gives us some rare concert performances and as you'd expect the quality is quite poor at times but it's still great fun getting to see this footage. SPRINGSTEEN & I falls short of being a masterpiece and I'm not quite certain it was worth the special $15 ticket price but fans will still want to check it out.

This entertaining documentary film concentrates on die hard Bruce Springsteen fans: they tell us why they love the Boss so much and what are the sources of their fanaticism. Intercalated with interviews to the fans, are segments of concerts of Bruce. Sometimes, the fans appear in the clips: in perhaps the best segment, a fan who is also an Elvis impersonator narrates the time he got to sing with the boss in a concert after writing on a placard "can the king sing with the boss", and sure enough, the film shows footage of that very funny episode. Another segments I enjoyed: 1) Bruce's impromptu gig with a street musician; 2) a pretty, articulate young Asian woman who works as a truck driver (!) speaks of her love for Bruce and how he talks for people like her in blue collar jobs who do the tough physical job in society; 3) a British fan tells the story of how he was able to get front row seats for a concert in Madison Square Garden; 4) a young Bruce on a concert early on his career (a career that is now more than 40 years old!!) singing folk very much in the style of Bob Dylan. This film is not just for Bruce fans, though surely they would enjoy it most.