Bono & The Edge A SORT OF HOMECOMING con Dave Letterman

When Eric Clapton gave us his acoustic version of "Layla", those of us too young to have been blown away by the strength of the original, were delighted and caught off guard by the acoustic, showing the strength of the songwriting. The same here applies, in spades with this peek at how U2 has been re-imagining some of their most beloved songs. They sound good no matter how you slice and dice them when the fundamentals are already so great. It seemed strange to have Letterman in the mix, but he truly is a fan, and we can enjoy his sense of wonder, and believe it. Letterman isn't there out of irony or comedy, he's there to learn more about one of the top 5 rock acts of all time. The piano version of "One" is worth the trip alone. Bono is self-aware here that he's a handful, while The Edge stands out as an endearing elder statesman of rock,

Phony big-them-up stuff, the typical nowadays. Each persona inflating the ego and image of the other until it gets unbearable. Use any fast-forward, capuchin-monkey-helper to get you through this very inferior content as fast as possible. That way, you don't waste too much time on insipid melodies, a near-old man prancing about, and all that. Most disappointing is the way Fintan O'Toole degrades himself to appear in this, to big-up these mediocrities. It's a sad reflection on the state of popular music today that these guys are still selling their wares to a beaten-down, bored and uninspired audience. All the phony bigging-up stuff pulls the wool over everybody's eyes and, while there's money to be made, it will go on forever. Be your own hero.

I like David Letterman from his days as a zany, comic late night talk show host. It's also clear that he has a special connection with Bono and The Edge. That said, he's not a good choice as a documentary interviewer. Too much was lost when it was all about him. The silly nonsense of his swim was wasted time. The pub interview/performance was the highlight along with the sights surrounding Dublin and the conversation about their early days as a band. Could it have been better had Larry and Adam joined? Most certainly. Great potential and I still enjoyed it but as another reviewer opined, I really did not learn anything knew about the band or Dublin.

By and large, this is a fairly vanilla documentary; Dave Letterman is a charming but not exactly incisive interviewer. Any sort of U2 fan will hear nothing here that they didn't already know from elsewhere. The musical performances are by and large good versions of some of the newly rerecorded 40 songs from Songs Of Surrender. I was especially taken by the new version of Invisible, a song which had previously left me cold. It's moving and inspiring here, almost touching on gospel. The sequence where Bono and The Edge play a song written especially for Dave Letterman is very sweet; the bond between them is clearly real. It's also the case that whenever Glen Hansard is on camera (singing or speaking), he's a fun and engaging presence. Fans will enjoy it for the music and the behind-the-scenes feel; U2 sceptics may find some of Bono's reflections interesting.

David Letterman brings a sense of wonder and awe to the city of Dublin as he interviews Bono and The Edge in between live performances that take place mostly in a small theater with The Edge on acoustic guitar or piano and Bono singing accompanied by a cellist.

The pair are a massively talented songwriting team who explain their origins, meeting as teenagers with a shared love of music.

The first major hit was Sunday Bloody Sunday which I immediately recognized when The Edge demonstrated his composition with the first few chords on his guitar. A partial version is shown at the theater, as is the haunting tune, Bad.

Letterman is as witty as expected with his funny interactions with the Irishmen.

I loved this documentary but I wish that more of the concert was included in the final cut.