Just like the rest of us, Bruce Springsteen is getting old.
At 70, he is still trying to make sense of his life, make peace with his past — and make his directorial debut.
Western Stars is not really a concert film, despite the fact that Springsteen performs all the songs from the new album of the same name with an orchestra behind him and an audience in front of him in the comfort of his New Jersey barn. And it’s not really a documentary, although we do get glimpses of the man himself.
What makes the movie uneasy to categorize is what happens between songs — when Springsteen imparts words of wisdom (or platitudes, depending on your point of view) while walking or driving through the barren American West of Joshua Tree National Park.
I’m sorry but the sight of Bruce Springsteen with a cowboy hat on just doesn’t do it for me. The whole thing comes off as pretentious.
Now, I am a huge Springsteen fan. Thunder Road is probably my all-time favorite song, I’ve seen him in concern several times and Michael even quoted his lyrics while being interviewed once.
We’ve flown to New York and shelled out a ridiculous amount of money to see his show on Broadway, and we both downloaded his autobiography onto our phones so we could listen to him read it. But I’m getting tired of it being all about him. I don’t know how Patti can stand it.
Whenever I watch them perform, my heart literally aches for Patti. In Western Stars, she often sidles up to him and looks like she’s trying to catch his eye but he never gives it to her. Even when they’re at the microphone together, she’s looking at him and he’s looking somewhere else. I understand that he’s The Boss but is he also the boss? At this point, I’m much more interested in listening to Patti’s story than his.
All that being said, the music is okay if not overly memorable. I thought the most interesting song was a surprising (and surprisingly great!) cover of Glen Campbell’s Rhinestone Cowboy. Right?!
Sadly, there’s little joy apparent in this older, more pensive Springsteen. Although artists are absolutely entitled to change their style and write and sing about anything they want, it doesn’t mean fans will go along with it.
There were only a handful of people in the theater when we went to see Western Stars, maybe proving Springsteen’s words, “You fall in love with lonely, you end up that way.”
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