Review of U2: Rattle and Hum (1988) by Edith N — 28 Jan 2007

This is not really a movie. This is, in fact, an extended music video with a few interview bits, but not really very many of those at all.

Not that I mind.

For one, Gods know the boys aren't exactly hard on the eyes. The Edge (do his friends call him "The"?) is wearing a very cool hat through most of it. This is in Bono's long-haired days, and he had [i]very[/i] nice hair. You get a nice gospel choir in there, too, and they're always fun to watch.

But of course, we're all here for the songs. If we weren't, would we be watching a movie about a band's tour? We [i]want[/i] to hear Bono telling us he can't live with or without us. That was why we paid the price of admission. (Or, you know, checked it out from the library. But I was on a waiting list, man!) We get quite a lot of songs, too. 25, in fact, which is the more impressive given that the movie's just over an hour and a half long.

I've never had the opportunity to see U2 live. I'm poor, you know. Still, I've heard their live stuff many times, including a great sing-along cover of "One." They seem to be as good a concert band as they are a studio band, and that isn't always the case. Naturally, one expects that the footage and the album (of course there's a soundtrack album!) will be souped up to sound as good as possible. Still, they clearly have energy; that can't be faked in post production.

Every year, I half-expect to learn that Bono has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The day is certainly coming. But even when he does, I will still remember being youg, when this movie first came out. At the time, we all just thought it was silly. Now, nearly twenty years later, it seems a slice of a simpler time.

Oh, I know. It wasn't, really. Then, we had the Cold War. My Gods, Reagan was still in office. But in 1988, I had fewer problems. One of the things I like about Bono is that he genuinely seems to want all of us all over the world to have fewer problems again.