At a time when biopics about musicians have become almost cliché, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere flips the script. Rather than giving the Boss the full bio film treatment, director Scott Cooper instead narrows the perimeters of his story to a turbulent time in Bruce Springsteen’s life, but one that inevitably proved to be artistically fruitful.
Based on Warren Zanes’ book Deliver Me from Nowhere, the film opens in 1957 in Freehold, New Jersey, where a young Springsteen (Matthew Pelicano, Jr.; Jeremy Allen White plays the adult Springsteen) is dispatched by his mother (Gaby Hoffmann) to collect his father (Stephen Graham) from a local watering hole. From here on out, it is obvious that his family life is turbulent.
The film then gets rolling by shifting forward to 1981, where the rocker is coming off his tour for The River. Hopes are high. He has a hit record, his concerts have drawn accolades, and he’s one of the country’s most popular artists. However, there is a darkness creeping in.His label wants a new album. His producer and manager, Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong) wants him to settle in his new digs and start writing, and his friends and neighbors want more of his time. While waiting for the ideas to strike, Springsteen spends his off time gigging with bands at Asbury Park’s The Stone Pony.
After one raucous set, he meets Faye Romano (Odessa Young), a waitress who is the sister of one of his high school chums. Despite hitting it off, the Boss holds off on courting her. He’s got things to do and people with expectations. However, as time goes on and his creative process drags, Springsteen eventually gives in and begins to see Faye.
Meanwhile, Springsteen is waiting for his next album to germinate. He begins to play guitar and write at his home in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Enlisting his friend Mike Batlan to engineer his recordings on a four-track recorder, the creative juices begin to flow, resulting in songs that would eventually become Nebraska and Born In The U.S.A.
Although influenced by the writings of Flannery O’ Connor, films, and the life of noted killer Charles Starkweather, Springsteen’s real inspiration comes from his past. As the movie unfolds, with his childhood filmed in black and white, it is apparent that his childhood years have traumatized him. Suffering from depression, PTSD, and a fractured relationship with an abusive father, Springsteen has spent years suppressing these experiences until they finally catch up with him. Unsure how to handle everything, he spirals toward rock bottom.
These issues and internal angst, disillusionment with fame, and deep questions about American identity form the core of Nebraska. Having recorded the album in rough form, he takes it to his band. However, when the recording session fails to go as he wants, he abandons the idea of recording it with them.
As his inner and outer voices clash, the lines between artistic integrity and commercial success blur. Struggling to get the album to match the sound he has of it in his head; Springsteen becomes obsessed with getting it right. Driving Landau, his label, and his production team crazy, Springsteen decides to put off the more robust recordings he has done for what will eventually manifest in Born in the U.S.A. on the back burner to focus on Nebraska.
After painstaking work, Nebraska is finished. His label hates it. Landau, although perplexed by the album, nonetheless soldiers on for its release. Causing him further vexation is Bruce’s decision to release it with no press, no radio single and no photo of him on the cover. While Springsteen’s passion project is an emotional and artistic freeing of emotional baggage, it is also a commercial hit, reaching number three on the album charts in 1982.
While the process of recording his sixth album is one of the movie’s foundations, Deliver Me From Nowhere is a film about an artist at a creative crossroads, looking to reconcile his past as he strives to move on.
Headlining this fight to make Nebraska is Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen. Adept at playing a traumatized character from his work on The Bear, he is sterling here. While he doesn’t quite look like Springsteen, he inhabits the role by getting his mannerisms and vocal inflections down pat. He also sings and plays guitar in the film. White brings an understated charisma to the role that makes it easy to believe he is Asbury Park’s favorite son.
Also excellent is Jeremy Strong as Jon Landau. His Rod Serling-like voice and rigid body movements allow him to inhabit the character of Springsteen’s swami, lieutenant, manager, and friend. Probably worthy of an Oscar nomination, Strong’s performance as an indispensable part of Springsteen’s life during this time serves as the perfect foil for White (who will also likely get a nomination himself). Together, the duo depicts a relationship of profound respect and admiration on the big screen.
Known for playing off-kilter or quirky characters, Paul Walter Hauser is more nuanced here. As studio nerd Batlan, he plays a confident and reluctant messenger, giving the film some comedic lapses. Also good is Aussie actress Odessa Young as Faye. Her portrayal of a single parent and uber-fan girlfriend is layered with independence, melancholy, and grit.
Bringing the pathos as Douglas Springsteen is Stephen Graham, who gives the performance of his career as Bruce’s alcoholic and abusive father. At times both a monster and a regretful lost soul, he nearly steals the film.
Directed, produced, and co-written by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart), Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is a raw, solitary, and tense exploration of the singer’s battle with depression, his relationship with Landau, and his quest for artistic expression. This excellent character-driven slice of cinema is a poignant exploration of fame, mental health, and the power of music to inspire and heal. | Rob Levy
