INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. Please note that this is just one of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for this film may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
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PLOT
Via Letterboxd: Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.
REVIEW
If you follow me on social media, you’ll know I’m not one of those cinephiles with a raging hatred for biopics. In fact, I usually grade them on a curve, and some recent ones like Elvis and Maestro even ended up on my year-end lists. But when it comes to biopics about boomer-beloved musicians, things get a little more hit-or-miss for me. Bohemian Rhapsody and A Complete Unknown are the best examples I can point to, films that either dragged me through the usual cradle-to-grave structure or were pure vibes movies I just couldn’t get on the wavelength of. So I came into Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere with a bit of trepidation and, admittedly, some PTSD from watching people lose their minds over a musician biopic from last year that did nothing for me beyond its great lead performance.
While I’ve listened to and enjoyed a few Bruce Springsteen songs, I wouldn’t call myself a fan of “The Boss.” Nothing against his work, I just never latched onto it the way others have. That put me in a similar position to where I was with A Complete Unknown. Like that film, which explores Bob Dylan’s decision to break from what’s expected of him, this one examines Springsteen’s recording of Nebraska, his stripped-down, folksy departure from his more singles-friendly albums.
What this film does that A Complete Unknown couldn’t, at least for me, is actually get me on its wavelength. I felt like I got to know Bruce a little here, more than I ever felt I got to know Dylan in that movie. Springsteen is at an incredibly vulnerable point in his life during the making of Nebraska, and the film captures that beautifully. It digs into his complicated relationship with his alcoholic father, his close partnership with his manager, and his struggles to find love at that point in his life. And as the album gradually takes shape, I found it fascinating to see exactly what went into bringing it together.
The first hour flew by for me, I was completely engaged. The performances are excellent across the board. Jeremy Allen White plays a reserved, deeply vulnerable Bruce; Jeremy Strong completely sells the manager willing to go to bat for his client; and Stephen Graham is phenomenal as Bruce’s father, aided by some impressive makeup work in the film’s present-day scenes.
That said, the film isn’t without its flaws. For as strong as the first hour is, the pacing starts to sag in the second, with a few lull moments creeping in. The final twenty minutes in particular feel like a series of would-be endings, as though the film can’t quite decide where to wrap things up. And yes, the longer it goes, the more it can’t resist slipping into some of those familiar musician-biopic tropes.
Still, I walked away from Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere more entertained, and more informed, than I did from last year’s A Complete Unknown. The performances are strong, and the movie actually made me want to listen to Nebraska, which is a compliment in itself. I’m currently leaning toward the stronger side of a B-, with room to bump it up to a soft B+ depending on how it lingers with me by year’s end.
“TL;DR”
Pros: Bruce Springsteen fans will absolutely adore this film and its intimate look at a vulnerable point in his life; Jeremy Allen White delivers a potential award nominations worthy performance as well as Jeremy Strong and Stephen Graham; Gets away from certain bio-pic tropes to allow the movie to stand out compared to others
Cons: After a pretty engaging and thoughtful first hour the film starts to lose steam and get into lulls in the second; While its able to stay away from certain tropes it also leans into using some of them as a crutch; This can very much be a vibes film for some and it will alienate those that can’t get on its wavelenght
GRADING
