Springsteen on Broadway

An absorbing viewing experience, one that comes with the warm, accumulating feeling that while under Bruce Springsteen's tutelage, everything makes sense.

A master class in pacing, dynamics, modulation of volume and tone, and the film brings you right up onstage with Springsteen, giving you a more intimate view of his technique - understated, seemingly casual but absolutely controlled.

Like many of the all-time great concert films, Springsteen On Broadway is no substitute for being in the room, but it's power transcends any perceived limitations.

Watching him on-screen (two performances were filmed in July for the Netflix show) was still transformative.

Granted, those kind of accolades [EGOT] might sound like a lot to ask of one guy, standing alone on stage, armed only with a few musical instruments and an unabated passion for rock. But fortunately, he's that good.

Springsteen's attempts to conjure up a spell, while they probably worked on the stage, are constantly shattered by Thom Zimny's cuts and disengaged zooms.

The approach conjures a compelling intimacy as the musician takes a trip back through his life, reflecting on his childhood, the very different personalities of his parents, and the effects his hard-drinking father had on his development.

Springsteen on Broadway nicely showcases Bruuuuuuuce's artistry and deconstructs his self-created mythology even as it ultimately doesn't reveal as much about the man's own flaws and fears as it appears to in the moment.

Springsteen outdid all the superheroes on screen in 2018.

However, it is Springsteen the raconteur - in a more rueful and reflective mode than his usual brand of stage banter - that is the principal focus of the Tony Award-winning show.

A breathtaking personal tribute by the songwriter/storyteller to the spirituality of place, relationships, and service.

Face it: this show is born to run (at least on TV) forever.