I am a solid fan of Bruce Springsteen. I have grown to appreciate his songwriting as I have matured and have come to appreciate his artistry, along with the tremendous talents of his backing musicians. So, I was naturally stoked to see a cinematic take on Bruce. I was sold with the casting, because, even though Jeremy Allen White doesn’t look like Springsteen, I trusted in his acting talent. I found it rather fascinating that the main focus of this film was the making of Bruce’s most unlikely follow-up to his successful album, The River. At the same time, I feared that this limited scope biopic would still fall victim to the usual trappings and cliches that often plague musical artist biopics.
The result is a bit of a mix. So, yes, the movie does address the impact of his traumatic childhood, which so many musician biopics often adapt, but I also appreciated the low-key take on how the Nebraska album came to be. The problem is that the filmmakers leave out many of the musical and artistic inspirations that drove Bruce to passionately create such a major departure from his previous work. While the film does introduce some of these elements, I feel that there is so much more that was there, besides his coping with success, and dealing with the repressed trauma that drove him as an artist.
The movie begins with the last show of The River tour, showing Bruce and the E Street Band passionately performing “Born to Run” as the concert’s closer. Now that “The Boss” gets to have a well-deserved break, he is already getting pressure from the record studio to follow up their successful work with more and another tour. Bruce, however, wishes for some quiet time after the tour has run him ragged. He decides to spend some quiet time alone in Colts Neck, New Jersey, where he has rented a cabin, to collect himself and determine his next move. However, when all there is are the voices and ghosts of his past childhood, Bruce often finds the quiet “deafening,” and begins writing and recording a series of songs which he feels driven to release. Meanwhile, he soon finds himself in a romantic relationship with a struggling single mother named Faye (Odessa Young), which he eventually sabotages, as he fears he is unable to commit given his personal struggles and the demands of his career.
For the most part, I was engrossed in this realization of Bruce Springsteen’s very personal journey. Through flashbacks, the audience gets a taste of his upbringing and how his alcoholic father, Douglas (Stephen Graham), impacted the lives of him and his family members. However, we only get a small taste of the other inspirations behind his desire to strip down his sound and his decision to make an acoustic, folk album. This limitation left me wanting more, despite the compelling elements that are presented. Writer/director Scott Cooper needed to spend more time developing and presenting Springsteen’s mindset, rather than recreating the recordings, studio sessions, flashbacks, and the pushback he received from the record company.
Nevertheless, I did appreciate getting a more intimate glimpse into Bruce’s life as a person, not so much as a rock star. The movie reveals some deeply personal aspects of his life that he eventually had to confront, despite his penchant for repression. Jeremy Allen White does not disappoint as the protagonist. He has an exceptional grasp of the character and obviously studied Bruce Springsteen well, giving a tremendous performance. Jeremy Strong stars as Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager and record producer, who believes in Bruce and is willing to push back against the record executives to protect his artist’s vision. His impact in the film is enough, but I feel his character development is somewhat lacking. I also appreciated the performance of Odessa Young, who gives an undeniably strong turn as Bruce’s one-time love interest who adores him but is bewildered by his weaknesses.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is a tough film to recommend. I feel that some Bruce fans will like most of what it has to offer, but might feel cheated by the lack of Nebraska‘s more artistic and musical inspirations. Those who are either not fans or mildly casual fans will probably be bored. Fans of Jeremy Allen White should definitely check it out to see an outstanding performance. I was most definitely intrigued by this movie’s story, but I feel that so much is missing.