Bruce Springsteen has always been a part of my life.
I remember listening to his first two albums — “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” and “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” — in the back of my dad’s 2001 white Chevy Prizm at 3 years old. “Born to Run” lodged itself into my brain as soon as Springsteen played the 2009 Super Bowl Halftime Show, and soon the rest of the album was part of the music rotation that blared from the CD player under my TV.
Musical artists would come and go, but the Boss always stayed. When “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” received the green light and Jeremy Allen White was tapped to play the titular star, my excitement was palpable.
I wanted this movie to be phenomenal, more so than any musician biopic — and possibly any movie — of the past decade.
But it just wasn’t.
"Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” focuses on the early 1980s, a period of Springsteen’s life that featured the albums “The River,” “Nebraska” and “Born in the U.S.A.” The film delves into the creation of “Nebraska,” an introspective album recorded in one of the rooms of Springsteen’s home in New Jersey.
White stars as Springsteen in a performance that is well-deserving of Oscar buzz. Alongside him is Jeremy Strong as Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager, Odessa Young as Springsteen’s love interest, Faye, and Stephen Graham as Springsteen’s father.
Though White and the rest of the cast drove the movie with their performances, they couldn’t entirely overcome the fatigue that now accompanies musician biopics. “A Complete Unknown” released in December last year, centered on Bob Dylan. “Bohemian Rhapsody” hit theaters in 2018, showcasing the story of Queen. “Elvis” came out in 2022, and an Elton John film titled “Rocketman” released in 2019.
To its credit, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” attempted to be something different. Just like the Dylan biopic, this film focused on a period of Springsteen’s life, one not centered on his stardom but rather his personal trauma and mental health struggles.
Frequent cuts to black-and-white scenes with a young Springsteen and his father hammered home his childhood trauma. Other issues Springsteen dealt with throughout the film included relationship struggles, personified through Young’s character, and his inability to address any of his own problems.
That’s what stands out in this film, one that doesn’t focus much on the music other than a few key areas. And without White’s performance, it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective.
White’s own voice often seeped into his speech, and he didn’t undergo a large physical transformation, but the portrayal was still impressive. Springsteen — and for that matter, White — is muted for much of the film, barring a few outbursts involving the creation of “Nebraska.”
But White truly excels on the stage — and director Scott Cooper clearly knew that.
One of the first shots of the film is Springsteen on stage performing “Born to Run.” This scene isn’t a necessity for the plot, but it lets White showcase his singing voice, one nearly identical to the Boss himself, and his uncanny mannerisms.
Moments like these are what had me truly buying into this film, whether it was Springsteen playing “Born in the U.S.A.” in the studio or any of the compositions of his “Nebraska” tracks. I appreciated a film documenting the emotional and mental obstacles a rock star faces rather than simply his widespread transformation, but at the end of the day, I really stayed to see White play Springsteen.
Little can detract from White’s performance, but what will ultimately hinder the spread of his recognition is how dull the film is. The movie struggles to keep the audience interested throughout, which may not be a critique of Cooper’s filmmaking choices but rather the moment he is documenting. Springsteen’s character arc throughout the film is almost entirely internal, so depicting this change challenged my short attention span.
The release of “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” brought a new four-disc “Nebraska” album, featuring many of the electric versions of the tracks from the album as well as some of the concept tapes for songs on “Born in the U.S.A.” So, regardless of the box office numbers, we can thank the film for this new addition to Springsteen’s discography.
But the success of the film ultimately won’t matter to me. Yes, it sometimes failed to keep me interested, and I would have appreciated a more nuanced look into Springsteen's issues.
Yet, nothing will beat seeing Springsteen on the big screen singing his music. As a lifelong fan, that’s really all I can ask for.
