Bono: Stories of Surrender, on Apple TV+

If you are a celebrity, never let a good near-death experience go to waste. Much like Jamie Foxx did in his Netflix special, Paul David Hewson frankly discusses how his heart nearly did him in too. Of course, you probably know Hewson by his stage name, Bono. In 2022 (predating Foxx), he performed a run of sold-out one-man shows (with musical accompaniment) adapted from his memoir. The rest of U2 was not present, but their songs (mostly written by Bono/Hewson) form the meat of the Beacon Theatre show captured for posterity in Andrew Dominik’s Bono: Stories of Surender, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

Although absent, Bono pays tribute to his U2 bandmates, assuring the audience Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton, and The Edge, were, are, and always will be an important part of his life. In fact, he met them the same week he first became acquainted with his future wife, Ali. That was a good week, but the show devotes more time to difficult moments, such as his mother’s tragic early death, his own health scare, and his challenging relationship with his father, especially after Hewson pere’s cancer diagnosis. That is all heavy stuff, but Bono breaks up his confessional with about a dozen of U2’s biggest hits. There are no originals in Stories of Surrender, which is exactly what most fans would prefer.

Instead of The Edge’s guitar, Bono is backed by frequent U2 collaborator Jacknife Lee on keyboards, Kate Ellis on cello, and Gemma Doherty on harp. The instrumentation is unusual, but it really suits Lee’s arrangements of “Pride,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for,” and “Beautiful Day.” Ironically, the tie-in EP tunes, “Desire” and “The Showman” are not as grabby, despite Doherty’s electric power-harp.

However, Erik Messerschmidt’s cinematography—in glorious black-and-white, just like Phil Joanou’s U2: Rattle & Hum (mostly)—always works. As Bono notes, the staging for his solo show is not as elaborately grandiose as recent U2 stadium concerts, but the lighting effects are quite dramatic, especially when creating halo effects and boom flares, which look cool in a rock & roll kind of way.

Unfortunately, Bono’s soul-searching analysis is only applied to his relationships and never to his activism. Instead, he clings to simplistic slogans, like African debt-forgiveness, even though any college econ major will understand the continent’s perverse adherence to command-and-control economic models inevitably prevents any possibility of prosperity. Frankly, Bono often sounds rather defensive when discussing his political advocacy, with good reason.

Yet, nobody who was at the show or might watch it on Apple TV+ will likely care very much, one way or another. They just want to hear “Vertigo” and “Where the Streets Have No Name,” whose new arrangements by Lee probably sound the closest to the original U2 recordings, which, again, is unlikely to displease fans.

In general, the familiarity of the U2 tunes and the freshness of Lee’s arrangements complement each other nicely to produce an entertaining concert film. Some of Bono’s monologues veer into flowery pretension, but he still retains an earthy sense of humor, which helps considerably.  Regardless, everyone will come for his recognizable hits, which still hold up, in some cases decades later. Easily recommended for U2 fans, Bono: Stories of Surrender now streams on Apple TV+.