Bruce Springsteen Archives

Review: ‘If These Walls Could Rock,’ starring George Rosenthal, Mark Rosenthal, Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Springsteen, Slash, Sharon Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, Dave Grohl and Rande Gerber

December 27, 2025

by Carla Hay

Billy Bob Thornton in “If These Walls Could Rock”

Directed by Tyler Measom and Craig A. Williams

Culture Representation: The documentary film “If These Walls Could Rock” (based on the 2013 book of the same name) features a predominantly white group of people (with a few African Americans and Latin people), mostly from the entertainment industry, discussing the history of the Sunset Marquis, a famous hotel in West Hollywood, California.

Culture Clash: The Sunset Marquis, which opened in 1963, attracted a celebrity clientele and developed a reputation for being lenient toward and discreet about decadence from the hotel’s guests, but the hotel fell on hard times in the early 1990s, when the Sunset Marquis was plagued by tax problems and being millions of dollars in debt.

Culture Audience: “If These Walls Could Rock” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of documentaries about celebrity lifestyles and true stories about failing businesses that made a comeback.

“If These Walls Could Rock” is a very entertaining documentary about the volatile history of the Sunset Marquis, a famous hotel in West Hollywood, California. Stories about celebrity decadence are expected, but the movie is also a bittersweet tale about the father-and-son executive relationship as the hotel’s driving force. “If These Walls Could Rock” features interviews with numerous people—most of them are showbiz celebrities who’ve been guests at the Sunset Marquis—but thanks to very good film editing, the documentary doesn’t feel overstuffed with these talking heads.

Directed by Tyler Measom and Craig A. Williams, “If These Walls Could Rock” is based on the 2013 non-fiction book “If These Walls Could Rock: 50 Years at the Legendary Sunset Marquis Hotel,” written by Williams and Mark Alan Rosenthal. The book is now out of print, but can be found at some places that sell used or rare books. The movie “If These Walls Could Rock” had its world premiere at DOC NYC in 2025.

“If These Walls Could Rock” begins with showing a montage of anecdotes and commentary from some celebrities talking about the Sunset Marquis, which opened in 1963. The movie’s stories mostly focus on what happened at the Sunset Marquis during the 1970s to 1990s, which were considered the peak years of the hotel being a haven for decadence and discretion about that decadence. The Sunset Marquis has been particularly popular with music stars, which is why most of the celebrities interviewed in the documentary are people from the music industry.

ZZ Top lead singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons tells a story about seeing Ozzy Osbourne at the hotel. Osbourne told Gibbons to toss a beer bottles and liquor glasses near the hotel’s swimming pool. By the end of the mayhem, Gibbons says, “There was so much glass around the swimming pool, no one could leave. That’s the kind of shit that happens at the Marquis.”

Bruce Springsteen has fond memories of staying with his E Street Band at the Sunset Marquis in the early-to-mid-1970s. He says the Sunset Marquis was the first hotel in the Los Angeles areas that he and his New Jersey-based band stayed at in the early years of their career. Springsteen comments in the documentary about the hotel’s atmosphere at the time: “You saw a lot of fellow musicians. We thought we were living in heaven.”

Nile Rodgers—a Grammy-winning producer/songwriter and a co-founder of the disco group Chic—says of the Sunset Marquis: “This was the great melting pot. Everybody was here.” Kiss singer/bass guitarist Gene Simmons adds, “I didn’t know any of the history, but it was like any other hotel that I’d ever been in.” Guns N’Roses guitarist Slash (whose photo is on the cover of the “If These Walls Could Rock” book) comments on the hotel’s ambience: “It was sort of a misfits kind of vibe.” Foo Fighters lead singer/guitarist Dave Grohl quips, “God, a if a bomb went off in this place, rock radio would be fucked.”

Sharon Osbourne—Ozzy Osbourne’s widow, who was his manager for his entire solo career from 1980 to his death in 2025—says the Sunset Marquis was one of the few hotels in the Los Angeles area that never banned Ozzy as a guest during his most notorious and wildest period in the 1980s. Sharon Osbourne says, “If you wanted sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, you stayed at the Marquis.” Even with all the debauchery, Sharon remembers the Marquis offering a cozy atmosphere: “It was like you were in your own home with a lot of friends.”

Later in the documentary, Ozzy’s daughter Kelly Osbourne comments: “It was the only hotel where my dad could stay in where my dad could be himself. We’d been kicked out of everywhere, but not the Sunset Marquis.”

Kelly Osbourne, who often traveled with her parents when Ozzy was on tour, also says the Sunset Marquis was the place where she had her first kiss, her first alcoholic drink and her first line of cocaine, with the cocaine supplied by one of Ozzy’s friends. (Kelly says in the documentary she does not want to say the name of this friend.) “I was like the Eloise of the hotel,” Kelly says, in reference to Kay Thompson’s “Eloise at the Plaza” children’s book series.

The Sunset Marquis catered so much to the music industry, the hotel opened a recording studio, called NightBird Studios, which launched in 1992. NightBird Studios owner Jed Leiber, who is also a music producer, is one of the people interviewed in the documentary. Aerosmith, Miley Cyrus and Drake are some of the famous artists who’ve recorded music at NightBird.

The Sunset Marquis has also been a popular spot for photo shoots and music videos. Morrissey, who is interviewed in the documentary, did photo shoots for several of his record sleeves at the Sunset Marquis, including “That’s How People Grow Up,” “All You Need Is Me,” “Now My Heart Is Full,” “Tomorrow,” “Hold on to Your Friends” and “The Very Best of Morrissey.” Music video director Russell Mulcahy remembers how things got kind of unruly when filming Rod Stewart’s 1981 “Tonight I’m Yours” music video at the Sunset Marquis.

Actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton, who call himself the “unofficial mayor of the Sunset Marquis,” gets quite a bit of screen time in the documentary. That’s because he says he’s lived off and on at the Sunset Marquis for many years, especially because he stays at the Sunset Marquis every time he gets a divorce, “which is often,” he says with a wry grin. In the documentary, Thornton gives viewers a tour of some parts of the Sunset Marquis.

Thornton says it wouldn’t be unusual for him to have famous neighbors at the hotel: “At one point,” Thornton says, Keith Richards [Rolling Stones rhythm guitarist] was below me. Chris Robinson [lead singer of the Black Crowes] was next door. Metallica, Steven Tyler [lead singer of Aerosmith], U2 would come in an out. It was like a rock-and-roll Friars Club.”

Many of the celebrities who are interviewed in the documentary say that one of the major appeals of the Sunset Marquis was the Sunset Marquis staff could be counted on to be discreet by not selling stories to tabloids or not telling the media about which celebrity guests were staying at the hotel. The Sunset Marquis actually has a policy for the hotel’s press releases and other publicity materials to not name any celebrities who stayed at the hotel. It’s also implied that the hotel’s employees have to sign confidentiality agreements not to publicly tell scandalous stories about the Sunset Marquis, even after their employment ends at the Sunset Marquis.

Duran Duran lead singer Simon LeBon says, “You always did feel there was an element of discretion at the Marquis. You cold really relax and be yourself, and for it not to hit the front page of the newspapers.” LeBon shares a story about how Duran Duran once stayed at the Sunset Marquis in the 1980s and had a loud party. A couple staying in a nearby suite knocked on the door. Instead of complaining about the noise, the couple asked to join the party, and the band welcomed the couple to party with them.

Lisa Hagen, who worked in Sunset Marquis’ sales and marketing team, comments in the documentary: “My job was to keep our name out of the press. My job would’ve been a lot easier if I advertised who stayed there, but I don’t think they would’ve kept coming back. I think they felt the secrecy we allowed them made them feel more comfortable and at home.”

Black Crowes lead singer Robinson says the Sunset Marquis was the band’s first-choice “home away from home” in Los Angeles during the 1990s and 2000s. He describes how the Sunset Marquis was the type of hotel where guests could feel free to leave illegal drugs out in the open in their suites without fear that the maid service would take away the drugs or that the drug possession would be reported to law enforcement. For example, Robinson says that Black Crowes and members of their entourage would leave marijuana and cocaine out on tables in Sunset Marquis suites where they stayed, and the drug stashes would be untouched when they would come back to the rooms, hours after the maid service had finished cleaning the rooms.

Robinson also tells a story from the early 1990s, about the Black Crowes being invited to stay at the then-newly opened Peninsula hotel in Beverly Hills, which took some persuading because the band preferred to stay at the Sunset Marquis. At the Peninsula, Robinson says he was at the bar, when a hotel employee shushed him for cursing—and that’s when he says he knew he made a mistake of staying there instead of at the Sunset Marquis. When he went back to his Peninsula suite, he says he threw a potted plant at a mirror and demanded whoever was in charge of the band’s hotel bookings for the band to go back to the Sunset Marquis.

Not all of the drug-related stories at the Sunset Marquis are about fun and games. Rock star Slash went public many years ago about being addicted to heroin, cocaine and alcohol during the height of Guns N’Roses’ popularity in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. In the documentary, Slash talks about being at the Sunset Marquis sometime in the 1990s, when he had a major drug-related freakout where he hallucinated that creatures were trying to kill him. It was also at the Sunset Marquis where Slash said he had an intervention that led to him going to rehab.

Past and present Sunset Marquis employees are interviewed in the documentary, including general manager Rod Gruendyke, bartender Mia Heldt, bellhop Logan Steppart, valet Peter Bartolota and publicist Kelly Cutrone. “George Rosenthal is a genius,” gushes Cutrone. “Let’s face it: The guy is a G.” Most of these employees refuse to tell stories that they know about celebrity guests who stayed at the Sunset Marquis.

The exception is Gruendyke, who tells a story about how rock band Green Day got banned from the Sunset Marquis for a year because the band threw furniture out of a window. A year later, after the ban ended, Gruendyke says Green Day was banned again (for three months) for pulling potted plants off of the hotel property and for painting the band’s suite floor green. Green Day came back to the Sunset Marquis after the three-month ban had ended. And the most mischief they got up to was filling the hotel’s Jacuzzi with bubbles.

Most of the celebrity stories told in the documentary aren’t very scandalous and just involve pranks or some lewd actions. Thornton tells a story about how he once had sex on some Sunset Marquis outdoor stairs with his “beloved at the time” (he doesn’t say who she is) while another an actor and his wife (whom Thornton does not name) walked by and congratulated Thornton on whatever award he had been nominated for at the time. Thornton remembers that the other couple acted like seeing them having sex in public was no big deal, which Thornton says is an example of people’s overall attitude at the Sunset Marquis during the times that he stayed there.

Gruendyke mentions that the Red Hot Chili Peppers once jumped from their hotel suite windows into the hotel’s swimming pool. And speaking of the Sunset Marquis swimming pool, which gets mentioned several times in the documentary, another story told about the pool comes from Steven Van Zandt, guitarist for Springsteen’s E Street Band. Van Zandt says in the documentary that Springsteen was so disenchanted by the first pressing of the 1975 album “Born to Run” and being on the cover of Time and Newsweek, Springsteen threw this early pressing and the magazine issues into the Sunset Marquis pool.

Years later, it was also at the Sunset Marquis where Springsteen met Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic, who became the subject of the 1989 movie “Born on the Fourth of July.” Kovic also inspired Springsteen to write the song “Born in the U.S.A.,” which was the title track of Springsteen’s blockbuster 1984 album. Springsteen and Kovic became lifelong friends as a result of this meeting.

But behind the tales of celebrity glamour and decadence, the documentary tells a story that can be just as riveting. It’s the story of the hard-driving, workaholic founder of the Sunset Marquis and the founder’s son who spent a lifetime trying to please him and ended up being the leader who saved the hotel from the brink of financial ruin. Sunset Marquis founder George Rosenthal (who was born in 1931) and his son Mark Rosenthal (who was born in 1959) are both interviewed in the documentary and give candid commentary about their often-troubled relationship and how it became intertwined with the Sunset Marquis’ business.

George Rosenthal (a native of Medford, Massachusetts) made his fortune in construction and property development, in a career that began when he moved to California in 1953. He founded the company Raleigh Enterprises in 1955. In 1963, George launched the Sunset Marquis, which he describes as the “first all-suite hotel” to open in the United States. Mark Rosenthal says that part of the hotel’s name was inspired by his childhood nickname Marky, which rhymes with Marquis.

George says he was inspired to open the Sunset Marquis after he went into business with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner to help launch the first Playboy Club in Los Angeles. The Playboy Club in Los Angeles opened in 1964, after a few years of development. George says he wanted to build a hotel to accommodate entertainers who visited Los Angeles and who would be the type who would also go to a place like the Playboy Club.

Unlike most high-profile Los Angeles/West Hollywood hotels located on busy commercial streets like Sunset Boulevard or Hollywood Boulevard, the Sunset Marquis is located on Alta Loma Road, a mostly residential street off of Sunset Boulevard. The residential location of the hotel made the Sunset Marquis feel more “discreet” and more “off the beaten path,” but it also caused problems when residents on the street complained of noise or other disturbances coming from the hotel.

By the time the Sunset Marquis opened, George was a divorced father who was enjoying his bachelor lifestyle. Celebrity photographer Timothy White, who has done many photo shoots at the Sunset Marquis, describes George as a “gentle man, but a playboy.” By George’s own admission, he wasn’t an attentive father, and he could be very tough on Mark, whom he expected to be involved in running the hotel when Mark was old enough to do so.

Mark describes his father as being a hard-driving individual who liked to win, no matter what the emotional cost. Mark tells a story of when he was a child, the Rosenthal family got into a legal dispute with a neighbor over the Rosenthal family’s dog. Instead of spending money on legal fees for a lawsuit that George might have lost, Mark says that George gave away the family dog, just to make the neighbor’s complaint go away.

George also had a more vulnerable side, according to Mark, who says that George identified with outsiders and misfits because of the brutal antisemitism that George experienced when George was growing up. Mark says that George wanted to create an environment at the Sunset Marquis for outsiders and misfits to feel welcome—including those who were banned or kicked out of other hotels.

Mark also remembers when he was child, his father often dated beautiful women and had a proverbial revolving door of girlfriends and lovers. In the documentary, George freely acknowledges why he was able to date so many beautiful women: “The ego side of me said it was me. But the reality was the hotel was a great attraction.” George indulged in women who were willing and available because he says he enjoyed their company and it made him feel good.

When Mark went into the family business as a Sunset Marquis executive in the 1980s, Mark started as a corporate liaison and rose through the ranks to become president/CEO. Mark describes his father as being demanding and overly critical, partly because that was George’s management style and partly because George didn’t want Mark to get special nepotism treatment. By the 1980s, George had let the Sunset Marquis go into a dilapidated decline because he had become distracted by other business ventures.

Mark stepped in to make renovations and to restore the previous rock-star glamour to the Sunset Marquis. However, by the early 1990s, the Sunset Marquis faced its biggest obstacle: According to Mark, the Sunset Marquis was about $50 million in debt. To make matters worse, in April 1991, the insurance commissioner for the state of California sued the Rosenthals for “billions of dollars.” Mark became the Sunset Marquis’ attorney to sort out this legal mess. The result of this lawsuit (the Rosenthals won) is included in the documentary.

The 1990s was also a major transitional period for the Sunset Marquis because of the arrival of the Whiskey Bar, an exclusive nightclub created by promoter Rande Gerber. The Whiskey Bar, which had a maximum capacity of only about 60 people, opened at the Sunset Marquis in 1994, and soon became a magnet for A-list celebrities and paparazzi. Guns N’Roses, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and her “Friends” co-stars were among the famous regulars at the Whiskey Bar during its heyday.

The Whiskey Bar closed in 2006, after the Sunset Marquis declined to renew the Whiskey Bar’s contract. Gerber, who is interviewed in the documentary, says he was disappointed by this decision because he says he wanted the Whiskey Bar to continue for much longer at the Sunset Marquis. It’s implied that Sunset Marquis management made this decision because the hotel got tired of how much of a paparazzi zoo the Whiskey Bar had become.

Other people interviewed in the documentary include The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey, former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott, Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen, former Guns N’Roses drummer Matt Sorum, singer/songwriter Richard Marx, musician John Oates (of Hall & Oates fame), singer/songwriter Darius Rucker, photographer Ross Halfin, music executive Merck Mercuriadis, singer/songwriter Cyndi Lauper, musician Sheila E., singer Gloria Estefan, music producer/musician Emilio Estefan, , singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow, music manager Doc McGhee, photographer Bob Gruen, singer Michael Des Barres, Halestorm singer Lzzy Hale, Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson, singer Julian Lennon and singer/guitarist Joe Bonamassa.

Although Mark Rosenthal and his father George went through some rough times, Mark and George seem to have a much stronger and healthier relationship now, compared to previous decades. In the documentary, George gives credit to Mark saving the Sunset Marquis and steering the hotel to a path of financial stability. The Sunset Marquis doesn’t have the wild “let it all hang out” reputation that it used to have in the 20th century, but “If These Walls Could Rock” is an enjoyable glimpse into the ups and downs of a bygone era of the Sunset Marquis, before the Internet and social media made celebrity life much less private and more exposed.

Review: ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,’ starring Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, Odessa Young, Gaby Hoffmann and Matthew Pellicano Jr.

September 29, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”

Directed by Scott Cooper

Culture Representation: Taking place from December 1981 to September 1982 (with flashbacks to 1957) in New Jersey, New York, and California, the dramatic film “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” (based on real events and the non-fiction book “Deliver Me From Nowhere”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Bruce Springsteen writes and records his deliberately non-commercial 1982 album “Nebraska,” as he struggles with depression and comes to terms with how his father’s alcoholism affected his childhood.

Culture Audience: “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of Springsteen, the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Scott Cooper, and thoughtfully made movies about celebrities and coping with past trauma.

Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong in “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” (Photo by Macall Polay/20th Century Studios)

This well-acted drama has a riveting portrayal of Bruce Springsteen when he made his 1982 album “Nebraska” while he battled depression and traumatic memories. It’s somber, introspective, and hopeful, but doesn’t look entirely candid about unflattering info. In this memorable movie, which can’t avoid some “hero worship” tendencies, Springsteen is portrayed as a little too “squeaky clean” to be completely believable as someone who was a rock star for several years at this point in his life.

Written and directed by Scott Cooper (who is also one of the producers of the movie), “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” is adapted from Warren Zanes’ 2023 non-fiction book “Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.” The movie “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” had its world premiere at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival and its New York premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival, where the real Springsteen did a short, surprise performance at the premiere event. For the purposes of this review, the real Bruce Springsteen will be referred to by his last name, while the character of Bruce Springsteen in the movie will be referred to by his first name.

“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” portrays two versions of Bruce Springsteen: The main version is 32-year-old bachelor Bruce (played by Jeremy Allen White), during the period of December 1981 to September 1982. The other version is 8-year-old Bruce (played by Matthew Pellicano Jr.) in flashback scenes that take place in 1957. Most of the movie takes place in Bruce’s home state of New Jersey, but some scenes take place in New York and California. “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” was filmed partially at Steiner Studios in New York City.

“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” begins with one of these flashback scenes, by showing boyhood Bruce riding his bicycle on a street in his hometown of Freehold, New Jersey. It starts out looking like a carefree scene, but then the truth about Bruce’s childhood is soon revealed: His father was an abusive alcoholic, while his mother was a co-dependent who stayed in the marriage.

Bruce’s mother Adele Springsteen (played by Gaby Hoffmann) drives Bruce to a local bar, where his father Douglas “Doug” Springsteen (played by Stephen Graham) has apparently been for hours. Adele tells Bruce to go inside the bar in a way that indicates this isn’t the first time Bruce is going to do what he’s about to do. Bruce approaches his inebriated father and says, “Daddy, mom says it’s time to come home.” When the family members are at home, Bruce looks frightened and sad while he sits on his bed and hears his parents loudly arguing behind closed doors.

This troubling scene then abruptly cuts to 1981, when a sweat-drenched Bruce is on stage performing his 1975 signature breakthrough song “Born to Run” to a cheering and packed arena audience. It’s the end of his successful tour for his multiplatinum 1980 album “The River” (his fifth studio album), which is best known for the hit single “Hungry Heart.” To the outside world, Bruce has what most rock musicians want: fame, adulation, industry respect, hit albums and lucrative tours.

But on the inside, Bruce is dealing with emotionally crippling memories of his childhood, shown in flashbacks throughout the movie. His unresolved trauma is affecting every aspect of his life, including how he sleeps, what songs he writes, and how he handles personal relationships. For Bruce, his greatest love is music, but even that isn’t enough to soothe the type of emotional pain that he is experiencing.

The movie portrays Bruce as someone who hangs out with the members his E Street Band only when he’s working with them. Therefore, don’t expect the movie to have any insights into the band members’ personalities. The band members are only in the movie to be backup musicians in certain scenes of Bruce performing on stage and working in the recording studio. In addition to being a singer and a guitarist, Bruce is the only songwriter for almost all of the songs that he records. Marc Maron has a small role as music producer Chuck Plotkin.

Bruce is barely shown having conversations with the E Street Band members depicted in the movie: guitarist Steve Van Zandt (played by Johnny Cannizzaro), saxophonist Clarence Clemons (played by Judah L. Sealy), keyboardist Roy Bittan (played by Charlie Savage), drummer Max Weinberg (played by Brian Chase), bass guitarist Garry Tallent (played by Mike Chiavaro), and organist/ accordionist Danny Federici (played by Andrew Fisher). Patti Scialfa, who would become Springsteen’s second wife, joined the E Street Band as a backup vocalist in 1984, and is therefore not depicted in this movie.

The Bruce shown in “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” is a loner who wants to record demo tracks for the album that would become “Nebraska” in his bedroom, with only one engineer—Mike “Mikey” Batlan (played by Paul Walter Hauser)—in attendance for any technical issues. The character of Mike is in the movie for less than 15 minutes, but he’s shown as the person who introduced Bruce to the portable recording equipment that Bruce uses to record these demos. Bruce has already made up his mind that he wants “Nebraska” to be a no-frills, stripped-down album that doesn’t have songs that sound like pop hits.

When Bruce does venture outside, it’s usually to hang out in a low-key, non-celebrity way at local diners. This is in an era when there are no smartphones, no Internet and no social media to obsessively document what famous people do in their free time. Paparazzi photographers do not hang out where Bruce likes to go. And in case you didn’t know it was 1981, the movie reminds viewers with cued soundtrack songs, such as Foreigner’s “Urgent” and Santana’s “Winning.”

How much of a “regular guy” is Bruce in this movie? Even though he’s been a rock star for at least six years since his “Born to Run” breakthrough, there’s a scene where he’s shown buying a black Chevy 305 at a car lot, and Bruce comments to the car salesman (played by T. Ryder Smith) that this is the first time he’s ever owned a new car. The salesman compliments Bruce by calling him a “handsome-devil rock star” and says, “I know who you are.” Bruce replies, “That makes one of us.”

“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” also has some subtle and not-so-subtle indications that at this point in his life, Bruce is famous but he isn’t rich. It’s mentioned that his net profit from “The River” tour was only $20,000. He lives in a modest house in New Jersey. And if it’s taken him this long to buy a new car, then it’s probably because he had to be careful with his money.

Bruce has generated millions of dollars in revenue by 1981, but where did all that money go? It’s indicative of bad contracts that artists often sign when they’re desperate to get a big break. This type of exploitation entails a whole other set of issues that the movie does not address at all, probably because it would interfere with the almost saintly way that Bruce’s manager Jon Landau (played by Jeremy Strong) is depicted in the movie. Artist exploitation is one of several noticeable things that the movie glosses over or ignores when it comes to realities in the music business for an artist like Springsteen.

Bruce can’t stay away from performing for too long when he’s not on tour. He goes back to the Stone Pony nightclub, a venue in Asbury Park, New Jersey, which is famous for being the place that regularly booked Springsteen before he was famous. There are multiple electrifying scenes where Bruce performs at the Stone Pony with a local band called Cats on a Smooth Surface. Real-life musicians portray the unnamed members of Cats on a Smooth Surface, such as Rival Sons lead singer Jay Buchanan, Greta Van Fleet lead guitarist Jake Kiszka, Greta Van Fleet bass guitarist Sam F. Kiszka, drummer Aksel Coe and keyboardist Henry Hey.

In the movie, Bruce is first seen performing at the Stone Pony with Cats on a Smooth Surface when they do a rousing version of Little Richard’s “Lucille.” After this show, a fan named Joey Romano (played by Jeff Adler), who is a former high school classmate of Bruce’s, approaches Bruce to say hello. Joey introduces Bruce to Joey’s younger sister Faye Romano (played by Odessa Young), who is also a fan but trying to play it cool.

Bruce remembers Joey from high school because they were classmates, but he doesn’t remember Faye, because she was a few years behind them in school. Joey is obviously trying to play matchmaker and leaves the conversation so Bruce and Faye can talk alone. Bruce tells Faye that he’s “kind of seeing someone,” but she gives her phone number to Bruce anyway, in case he wants to casually hang out with her. He ends up taking her up on her offer.

Faye is a single mother to a daughter named Haley (played by twins Vienna Barrus and Vivienne Barrus), who’s about 4 or 5 years old. Before Faye and Bruce have their first official date, Faye mentions she has a habit of choosing the wrong men as intimate partners. And when Bruce asks where Haley’s father is, it should come as no surprise that Faye describes him as a deadbeat dad who doesn’t want to be in contact with them. Faye says that she and Haley are better off without Haley’s father.

The romance between Bruce and Faye is sweet, but people with enough life experience already know what is mostly likely to happen to this relationship. The movie all but telegraphs it when Bruce becomes more absorbed with writing and recording the album that would become “Nebraska.” Faye learns the hard way that brilliant and talented artists often put their art above everything else, so it’s difficult for her to deal with feeling that Bruce isn’t paying enough attention to her after they become lovers.

Jon is depicted as Bruce’s loyal protector, who never second-guesses Bruce’s decisions. Jon staunchly defends Bruce when skeptical Columbia Records executives such as Al Teller (played by David Krumholtz) hear the “Nebraska” demos and are frustrated that none of the songs sounds like a hit single. Jon is also adamant when he tells Columbia that Bruce has decided that there will be no singles, no touring and no press for “Nebraska.”

In real life, this would be a major fight behind the scenes for artists to have this type of control, but there’s hardly any debate about it in the movie. Jon just “lays down the law,” and executives at Columbia just agree to it, with almost no pushback. No one even curses in discussions about this radical marketing strategy for an album. They have fairly civil conversations about it.

Get real. This is the music business, where an artist like Springsteen is responsible for making millions of dollars for many people. There’s no way that in real life that Jon Landau, Columbia executives, attorneys, and many other necessary people didn’t get into protracted disputes about Springsteen’s refusal to tour, release singles or do press for the “Nebraska” album. Instead, the movie unrealistically makes it look like Landau was able to easily persuade Columbia to do what Bruce wanted.

Similarly, when it comes to any “sex, drugs and rock and roll” depicted in “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the movie makes Bruce look almost like a choir boy. There’s no mention of Bruce ever indulging in drugs, alcohol, sex with groupies, or even smoking cigarettes. The sex scene that Bruce and Faye have is very tame, with no nudity. His lifestyle in the movie looks too sanitary to be believed. “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” needed more realistic grit to make it look more honest.

Despite these shortcomings, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” has terrific portrayals of Bruce as a creative artist, thanks to White’s committed performance. White does his own singing on the Springsteen songs “Born to Run,” “Nebraska,” “Atlantic City,” “Mansion on a Hill,” “I’m on Fire,” “State Trooper,” “Reason to Believe,” “Highway Patrolman,” “Born in the U.S.A.” and “My Father’s House.” Although he doesn’t physically resemble the real Springsteen, White admirably captures the spirit and swagger of a man trying to hold his life together when he feels like he’s falling apart inside.

Strong’s portrayal of manager Jon is not as a flamboyant, larger-than-life personality who wants to be famous too, which is a stereotype of many real-life managers of music superstars. Instead, Jon comes across as a fan who is happy to carry out Bruce’s wishes. (Landau’s background as a former music journalist is not mentioned in the movie.) Jon, who gives compassionate and helpful advice to Bruce, is not quite a “yes man” enabler who will agree with bad decisions, simply because the movie makes it look like Bruce’s instincts and decisions are always right when it comes to his music and career. It’s just all too good to be entirely true.

The person who gives the best supporting actor performance in the movie is Graham as Bruce’s troubled father Doug, who is (depending on the situation) a bully, a pathetic lost soul and/or someone who tries (but often fails) to be a good father. Doug thinks getting in fist fights is the way to resolve certain problems. When Bruce was a child, Doug put pressure on Bruce to learn how to box when Bruce clearly didn’t want to do it. Bruce’s mother Adele, who is loving and compassionate, stays with Doug during their volatile marriage, but lets it be known to Doug that she will choose to protact Bruce over Doug if necessary.

The movie hints but doesn’t explicitly show that there was domestic violence in the Springsteen household. At the very least, Doug’s alcoholism caused him to be verbally abusive. When Bruce is an adult, Doug’s alcoholism is worse and leads to some harrowing incidents after Adele and Doug moved to California. Graham’s portrayal of Doug shows Doug to be heinous at times and heartbreaking at other times but always realistically human. A big tearjerker moment in the movie is a scene of Doug and adult Bruce backstage after one of Bruce concerts.

Young and Hoffmann do quite well in their roles as Faye and Adele, the two women with the most screen time and most dialogue for women in the movie. However, Adele and Faye mostly exist in the movie to portray “good mothers.” Almost everything they do is in reaction to what the men in their lives are doing. Bruce Springsteen’s real-life sister Pamela is depicted briefly as a child named Virginia Springsteen (played by Arrabella Olivia Clarke), in a scene where Doug takes Bruce and Virginia to play in an open field near a stranger’s mansion. Other than that scene, Pamela or any acknowledgement that Springsteen has a sibling is erased from this story.

Bruce’s songwriting and recording sessions are entertaining and fascinating in the movie but don’t reveal much that would be considered new information to die-hard Springsteen fans. As shown in the movie, some of the songs that he wrote in isolation in Colts Neck, New Jersey (such as “Born in the U.S.A.” and “I’m on Fire”), would end up on his 1984 blockbuster album “Born in the U.S.A.” Bruce and his longtime friend Toby Scott (played by Bartley Booz) take a road trip to California after Bruce decides to move to the Los Angeles area to finish “Nebraska.” But that trip is rushed into the movie, when it could’ve been better used as an opportunity to show Bruce in situations that don’t revolve around him making music. The completion of “Nebraska” is breezed over with a fast-forward that takes place 10 months later.

“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” is a glimpse into a short but impactful time in Springsteen’s life. The movie offers some trivia information that many fans might already know, such as Springsteen being influenced by the 1973 movie “Badlands,” by writing a song also titled “Badlands.” “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” also has a scene where Jon tells Bruce that screenwriter/director Paul Schrader (who’s not seen in the movie) wants Robert De Niro and Bruce to co-star in Schrader’s “Born in the U.S.A.” movie, which later became the 1987 movie “Light of Day,” starring Michael J. Fox in the role that was originally conceived for Springsteen.

As expected, the musical selections in “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” are satisfying and placed very well in each scene. Aside from being a better-than-average movie about a music legend, “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” has a lot of merit for giving a responsible depiction of coping with mental health issues. The movie might not tell all about the “man behind the myth,” but it shows enough humanity for people to see some of the real-life struggles behind the sheen of a celebrity image.

20th Century Studios will release “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” in U.S. cinemas on October 24, 2025. The movie will be released on digital on December 23, 2025. “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” will be released on 4K Blu-ray on January 20, 2026.

Review: ‘Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story,’ starring George Wein, Quint Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Irma Thomas, Jimmy Buffett and Bruce Springsteen

May 16, 2022

by Carla Hay

“Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story”

Directed by Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern

Culture Representation: Taking place in New Orleans, the documentary “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” features a cast of white and black people (with a few Latinos), mostly music artists, who are connected in some way to Jazz Fest, an annual music and cultural festival in New Orleans.

Culture Clash: Jazz Fest has had its share of obstacles, including overcoming racial segregation issues, Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Culture Audience: “Jazz Fest” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in this festival and its impact on New Orleans and pop culture.

Nashville Super Choir in “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” (Photo courtesy of The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Sony Pictures Classics)

“Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” is a purely laudatory documentary, told mostly from artists’ perspectives. The film is sometimes unfocused, and some of the commentary praise is too effusive, but the dynamic concert scenes make the movie a worthwhile watch. The movie capably demonstrates how Jazz Fest has become a necessary and influential cultural institution in New Orleans.

Directed by Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern, “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” does nothing groundbreaking in how the film is presented. It’s a traditionally formatted documentary that blends archival footage with the movie’s exclusive interviews. “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” does an excellent job of showing the diversity of Jazz Fest, the commonly used name for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Despite its name, this beloved event isn’t just a festival for jazz music. Jazz Fest—an outdoor festival which traditionally takes place in the spring at Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots—also features R&B, rock, pop, country, gospel, blues, Latin music, Americana, world music, and a number of other music genres from numerous artists from around the world. Jazz Fest, which launched in 1970, is owned by the non-profit New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Foundation Inc. The event is produced by AEG Presents and Festival Productions Inc.-New Orleans.

Jazz Fest founder George Wein (who died in 2021, at age 95) is one of the people interviewed in the documentary. A longtime concert promoter, Wein says in the documentary that he was first approached to do Jazz Fest in 1962 by “someone from the Hotel Corporation of America” to do a “Newport [Jazz Festival] type of festival.” Wein said that because of Jim Crow laws at the time that made racial segregation legal in Louisiana, “I couldn’t have white musicians and African [black] musicians on stage at the same time.”

And so, Jazz Fest had to wait to launch only after the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed into law and ended legal racial segregation in the United States. Shell Oil Company signed on to be Jazz Fest’s first corporate sponsor. Jazz Fest’s first concert lineup in the event’s inaugural year included Mahalia Jackson, Duke Wellington, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, Clifton Chenier, Fats Domino, The Meters, and the Preservation Hall Band.

Jazz Fest received support from the artistic community from the beginning, although attendance from the public was very low by today’s Jazz Fest standards. In the first year of Jazz Fest, which took place in Congo Square in 1970, about 350 people attended. Since then, Jazz Fest has become the biggest annual concert event in New Orleans, with an estimated 425,000 to 475,000 people in attendance, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jazz Fest founding producer Quint Davis comments in the documentary: “When Jazz Fest started, it was like we were presenting this music to the world … There were a lot of reasons everybody thought we would fail. One of them was bringing Cajun people and Latin people together.”

Davis adds, “Well, everybody eats, and everybody dances. So, if we can get people together to see what they eat and see what they dance to, I think that can work. When it was all put together in one place, it was stunning to the local people. They were amazed at themselves and felt tremendous pride.”

One particular New Orleans family became integral to Jazz Fest: the Marsalis family, who are world-renowned for their musical accomplishments, particularly in jazz. Ellis Marsalis Jr. (who died in 2020, at age 85) and four of his six sons—Wynton, Branson, Delfeayo, and Jason—are interviewed in the documentary, and they share fond memories of performing at Jazz Fest. The Marsalis brothers literally grew up at Jazz Fest and frequently performed as part of the musical group called the Ellis Marsalis Family Tribute. Branford Marsalis comments on performing with his brothers and his father Ellis: “When we walked out on stage, he ceased being my dad. He was the leader of the group.”

Davis comments on another popular Jazz Fest artist: “Jimmy Buffett is very, very special to us. He’s been responsible for drawing more people to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival than maybe anybody else.” Buffett says in the documentary: “Everything I do, from writing shows to writing songs comes out from being a child of the Mardi Gras.”

Other artists interviewed include Irma Thomas; Pitbull; Boyfriend; Sony Landreth; Big Freedia; Tom Jones; Divine Ladies member Angelina Sever; Preservation Hall Jazz Band member Ben Jaffe; Cowboy Mouth member Fred LeBlanc; High Steppers Brass Band member Daryl Fields; Tab Benoit; Marc Savoy; John Hammond; and Earth, Wind & Fire members Philip Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson. The documentary also has archival footage of several performances, including those by Aaron Neville; Katy Perry with the Gospel Soul Children; Thomas; Pitbull; B.B. King; Al Green; Hammond; Big Freedia; Preservation Hall Jazz Band; Herbie Hancock; Nashville Super Choir; and Earth, Wind & Fire.

There’s an entire segment in the documentary about the food of Jazz Fest, with soundbites from some Jazz Fest food vendors, along with the expected delectable-looking display of New Orleans cuisine, such as jambalaya, crawfish, pralines and beignets. The movie tends to drift off-topic in the middle of the film, when it veers into a prolonged discussion of Mardi Gras, including the history of Mardi Gras and how Mardi Gras has impacted New Orleans Fortunately, the documentary eventually gets back on track to talking about Jazz Fest.

One of the best aspects of the documentary is the discussion about how Jazz Fest had a triumphant comeback in 2006, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bruce Springsteen’s emotionally moving Jazz Fest 2006 performance of “My City of Ruins” is in the documentary. Springsteen comments, “There are certain moments when you meet your audience, and that’s when the healing begins. It was one of the most beautiful concert experiences I ever had.”

The epilogue of “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” includes mention of how, for the first time in Jazz Fest history, the event was cancelled. It happened in 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The epilogue includes a brief mention of Jazz Fest’s return in 2022, with footage of Buffet performing a rousing cover version of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

“Jazz Fest” is a documentary that often comes across as an electronic press kit video, because the commentary is non-stop praise of Jazz Fest and/or New Orleans, with no mention of any under-reported problems of Jazz Fest. The movie lacks any constructive criticism of the event and doesn’t talk about issues such as overcrowding or overpricing. But as a documentary that’s meant to celebrate the event, “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” is at its best when it lets the music and performances do the talking.

Sony Pictures Classics released “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” in select U.S. cinemas on May 13, 2022.

Review: ‘Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band,’ starring Robbie Robertson, Martin Scorsese, Bruce Springsteen, Ronnie Hawkins, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison

February 21, 2020

by Carla Hay

“Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band”

Directed by Daniel Roher

Culture Representation: Inspired by the 2016 “Testimony” memoir of musician Robbie Robertson (who is of Canadian and Native American heritage), this documentary tells his perspective of his life, with a particular focus on The Band, a group of rock musicians that went from being Bob Dylan’s backup band to international stars of their own right.

Culture Clash: Although most of The Band consisted of Canadians, they helped pioneer the blues-and-folk-inspired rock genre known as Americana, but The Band imploded over ego problems and drug addictions.

Culture Audience: This movie will appeal mostly to fans of Robbie Robertson and The Band, as well as people who enjoy documentaries about classic rock artists.

The Band in “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.” Pictured from left to right: Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm. (Photo by David Gahr)

In case it wasn’t clear from the title of the movie, the documentary “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band” is a biography that’s heavily slanted toward Robbie Robertson, one of the co-founders of The Band. The movie is told from his perspective, so it’s really his life story, although his time with The Band is at the heart of the movie. This traditionally made documentary (the first feature film from Canadian director Daniel Roher) takes viewers through a comprehensive and very Robertson-biased history of the group, whose original lineup broke up in 1976.

Born in 1943, Robertson knew from an early age that he wanted to be a musician. The movie begins with Robertson talking about his humble origins growing up in his native Toronto as an only child of factory workers who were in an interracial relationship: His father James Patrick Robertson was white, and his mother Rosemarie Dolly Robertson was a Native American who had ties to the Mohawk community and the Six Nations Reserve. When he was in his early teens, Robertson found out that his birth name was Jaime Royal Klegerman, because his biological father was really a Jewish gambler named Alexander David Klegerman.

After Robertson found out who his biological father was, he got to know the Klegerman side of his family, and was fascinated by his biological father’s outlaw lifestyle. This fascination also coincided with his growing interest in rock’n’roll, which was a new genre when he was a teenager, and it was considered the music of rebels. Although Robertson would learn to play several instruments, the guitar was his instrument of choice.

At the age of 13, he joined his first band (a cover band called Little Caesar and the Consuls), which lasted for about a year. Through sheer determination and persistence, Robertson talked his way into professional gigs, and for most of his mid-teens he played in local bands and worked at carnivals. He usually lied about his age back then, and because he was so talented and looked older than his real age, he was able to convince people to hire him as a musician.

When he was just 16, he began working with rockabilly artist Ronnie Hawkins as a guitarist in The Hawks, which was Hawkins’ backup band. Hawkins is interviewed in the documentary, and he shares fond memories of Robertson, whom he remembers as being bright and ambitious. Through his experience with The Hawks, Robertson met the other musicians who would eventually become members of The Band: drummer Levon Helm, bassist Rick Danko, keyboardist/saxophonist Garth Hudson and multi-instrumentalist Richard Manuel. All of them were Canadian, except for Helm, who was American. (Helm died in 2012, Danko died in 1999, and Manuel died in 1986.)

In addition to Hawkins, Robertson credits Helm and guitarist Roy Buchanan (who was briefly a member of The Hawks) as being extremely influential to him as a young musician. Helm in particular became like an older brother to Robertson, so when their relationship turned sour years later, Robertson said it was heartbreaking for him.

In 1964, The Hawks left Hawkins and began performing as Levon and The Hawks, with Helm as lead singer/drummer, Robertson as lead guitarist, Danko as bassist, Manuel as multi-instrumentalist and Hudson as keyboardist/saxophonist. Their music was bluesier and more soulful than the rockabilly that Hawkins performed. That blues/soul influence would later become part of The Band’s signature sound. It’s rock music that mixes elements of blues, soul, folk and country—a subgenre that people now call Americana.

The group known as Levon and The Hawks then began working as Bob Dylan’s backup band in 1965, and they toured the world with him for about a year. (Dylan is not interviewed in this documentary, but there’s archival footage of Dylan working with the band.) It was through Dylan and his manager Albert Grossman that The Hawks relocated to upstate New York, where Dylan was based at the time. The band members settled in the cities of Woodstock and West Saugerties.

This relocation was a pivotal moment in Robertson’s history because it led to the famous “Basement Tape Sessions” of 1967, when Dylan and members of the band wrote and recorded songs together in a pink house in West Saugerties. By this time, The Hawks had renamed themselves The Band, and did recording sessions on their own without Dylan as the lead singer. The sessions would turn into The Band’s landmark 1968 debut album, “Music from Big Pink,” which included the single “The Weight,” which is arguably The Band’s best-known song.

The instant success of “Music From Big Pink” created demand for The Band as a standalone act, so the group amicably parted ways with Dylan, although The Band would occasionally work with Dylan again as a guest collaborator. The Band continued to have a steady stream of success, including the hit songs “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Don’t Do It” and “On a Night Like This.” (The Band was also one of the performers at the Woodstock Festival, although the performance didn’t make it into the “Woodstock” movie.)

The Band was unusual because the group’s original lineup had three lead singers—Helm, Robertson and Danko—and that jockeying for frontman power caused internal conflicts over who would sing lead on which songs. However, The Band was an example of being a group whose sum was greater than its parts. The documentary includes a treasure trove of great behind-the-scenes photos, audio recordings and video footage of The Band rehearsing and recording. Even if people are already familiar with The Band before seeing this documentary, this footage is a reminder how special and electrifying The Band’s chemistry was.

And that once-in-a-lifetime chemistry is one of the reasons why The Band was so well-respected among musical peers. The documentary interviews famous fans Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal and the usually media-shy Van Morrison, who talk about how much they admired the musicianship and songwriting talent in The Band. Bruce Springsteen, who’s also interviewed, gushes about how influential The Band was to him as a musician.

But just like many other famous bands that broke up, The Band’s demise came down to egos and drugs. The way Robertson tells it, he was the driving force in the band for many years, as the chief songwriter and as the member most likely to hold things together, even though the drug addictions of Helm, Manuel and Danko were tearing the band apart. Robertson says that Helm went from being someone who swore he would never do heroin to being perhaps the most hardcore heroin addict of the three.

And what about keyboardist/saxophonist Hudson? He’s described in the documentary as sweet and shy and the least likely one in the band to cause trouble. Unfortunately, viewers won’t hear his perspective in this documentary. According to the production notes, “Once Were Brothers” director Roher spent a weekend interviewing Hudson on-camera, but that footage didn’t make the final cut.

Roher comments in the production notes about filming Hudson for the documentary: “He played music for me, and we had an amazing time together, but for reasons that are difficult to discuss, it soon became apparent we couldn’t use the footage. Still, I appreciated the opportunity to meet with him and shoot that interview. In the end, though, I understood that we had to find another way to add his voice to the documentary.”

Meanwhile, in a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Robertson had this to say about why Hudson isn’t in the documentary: “Garth is a recluse and he doesn’t talk. He has a health issue. I don’t think it would be respectful to Garth to show that he is not feeling that well, and to not be able to show him in a shining light.”

Robertson says in the film that because he was the first member of The Band to get married and start a family during the height of The Band’s fame, he had a different lifestyle and perspective than the other members of The Band (namely, Helm, Danko and Manuel), who were living the lives of wild and single rock stars. And because Robertson was the most business-minded member of the group, it caused a wedge between him and the other members of the band.

In the years after The Band’s breakup, Helm would bitterly complain in interviews about business and legal disagreements that he had with Robertson, who gave his blessing for Helm, Danko and Manuel to continue as The Band without him after the original lineup broke up. In the “Once Were Brothers” documentary, Robertson says one of his biggest regrets is that he never fully reconciled with Helm before his death in 2012. Helm wrote his own memoir (1993’s “This Wheel’s on Fire”) and was the subject of the 2010 documentary “Ain’t in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm,” so his perspective is worth looking into for people who want his side of the story.

The documentary makes it clear that Robertson was no clean-living angel during his time in The Band and after the breakup. He openly admits that he also abused drugs and alcohol over the years. However, Robertson was never addicted, according to his ex-wife Dominique Robertson, who’s currently an addiction counselor and who was married to Robbie Robertson from 1967 to 1997. In the documentary, Dominique Robertson also recalls harrowing incidents, when the The Band lived near each other in upstate New York, of Helm and Danko wrecking their cars because they were driving while intoxicated.

Robertson glosses over a lot of his drug use in the documentary with vague and brief comments about his experiences with drugs, whereas there are vivid descriptions of how drugs (especially heroin) were behind the downward spirals of Helm, Manuel and Danko. The way Robertson tells it, he grew increasingly frustrated with their tardiness and what he describes as their eventual sloppy musicianship, while he remained the responsible workaholic who was holding the band together, even though he was abusing drugs and alcohol too. You get the impression that Robertson is embellishing his role as the noble protagonist of this story, and that all the blame shouldn’t be placed on Helm, Manuel and Danko for ruining The Band. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

By making Robertson the hero of this story, because he says he tried to save The Band, the documentary by default makes Helm, Manuel and Danko look like the selfish “screw-ups” and unintentional quasi-villains. It feels a bit like an insulting pile-on about people who aren’t alive to defend themselves or tell their sides of the story in this movie. It’s too bad that this documentary doesn’t have Hudson’s perspective as the only other surviving member of The Band’s original lineup.

At any rate, Robertson has made it clear in this documentary and in several interviews he’s done over the years that The Band’s original lineup probably would’ve kept going if not for the drug addictions, and he was the one who chose to pull the plug on the original lineup and walk away.

Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese, who’s been Robertson’s close friend for decades, is also interviewed. He shares some great behind-the-scenes stories about directing “The Last Waltz,” the 1978 concert documentary that chronicled The Band’s final performance with the original lineup on November 25, 1976. The concert, which took place in San Francisco, also had guest stars such as Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Morrison.

Of course, there are clips from “The Last Waltz,” which are among the highlights of “Once Were Brothers.” It just goes to show how “The Last Waltz” is such a great concert film when scenes from the movie are some of the best parts of another documentary about Robertson and The Band. In fact, “The Last Waltz” performance of “The Night They Drove All Dixie Down” is used during the closing credits of “Once Were Brothers.”

Overall, director Roher made excellent choices in the archival footage and how the music was edited in the film. Although Robertson’s solo career (including his work as a film composer) is mentioned, the filmmakers made the wise decision to put the movie’s focus primarily on The Band.

Roher (who says he begged and pleaded to direct this documentary because he loves Robbie Robertson and The Band so much) approaches the subject matter like the superfan that he admits he is. The people who are in this movie seem to be only those who were approved by Robertson. A little more investigative journalism would have given this documentary a more well-rounded variety of perspectives.

Ultimately though, the music and talent of Robertson and The Band are the real attractions for this movie. And in that respect, this documentary is a crowd-pleaser.

Magnolia Pictures released “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band” in select U.S. cinemas on February 21, 2020.

2018 Tony Awards: Bruce Springsteen to perform; more presenters announced

June 5, 2018

The following is a press release from the American Theatre Wing:

Bruce Springsteen will make a rare television appearance at the 72nd Annual Tony Awards, when he takes the stage to perform live from Radio City Music Hall on CBS on Sunday, June 10th, 8:00 – 11:00 p.m.(ET/PT time delay).

Springsteen will also receive a Special Tony Award for his ongoing engagement “Springsteen on Broadway,” a once-in-a-lifetime theater going experience for the Broadway stage.

Hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, the evening will feature appearances by: Uzo Aduba, Christine Baranski, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Melissa Benoist, Erich Bergen, Rachel Bloom, Matt Bomer, Rachel Brosnahan, Tituss Burgess, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Robert De Niro, Brandon Victor Dixon, Christopher Jackson, Billy Joel, Patti LuPone, Tatiana Maslany, Katharine McPhee, Matthew Morrison, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kelli O’Hara, Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Bernadette Peters, Andrew Rannells, Kerry Washington, Ming-Na Wen, Marisa Jaret Winokur; Tony Nominees Tina Fey, John Leguizamo and Amy Schumer as well as Tony Award Lifetime Achievement recipients Andrew Lloyd Webber and Chita Rivera.

The American Theatre Wing’s 72nd Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, will air live from Radio City Music Hall on the CBS Television Network on Sunday, June 10, 2018 (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/delayed PT). The Tony Awards, which honors theatre professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway, has been broadcast on CBS since 1978. The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

Tickets for the 2018 Tony Awards are now available at TonyAwards.com and TicketMaster.com.

For more information on the Tony Awards, visit TonyAwards.com and Facebook.com/TheTonyAwards and follow @TheTonyAwards on Instagram and Twitter.

June 7, 2018 UPDATE: The high-energy evening will feature performances by the casts of the 2018 Tony Award-nominated shows “The Band’s Visit,” “Carousel,” “Frozen,” “Mean Girls,” “My Fair Lady,” “Once on This Island,” “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical” and “SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical.” Also, the show will feature a special performance from the 2017 Tony Award-winning musical “Dear Evan Hansen.”