Bruce Springsteen is The Boss; “Springsteen: Deliver me From Nowhere” is not

Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen in “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.” (PC: Macall Polay/20th Century Studios/TNS)

Bruce Springsteen’s album “Nebraska” was released in September 1982. A daring departure from the music that made him famous, the folk-rock album draws from many sources, including his personal trauma and childhood, as well as media such as “Badlands” (1973) and short stories by Flannery O’Connor.
“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” released on Oct. 24th, shows the audience all of these, and more.
Starring Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen and Jeremy Strong as Jon Landau, director Steve Cooper sought to show Springsteen’s creative process and personal struggles as he wrote and recorded “Nebraska.”
The Good
This movie is not the greatest release of the year, but there were strong parts. Jeremy Allen White shines enough for the rest of the flaws of this movie to dim.
He portrayed Springsteen’s mixed emotions about fame, struggles to open up to others, and depression with grace.
Jeremy Strong also put on a solid performance as Springsteen’s manager, Jon Landau. His character is a little funky, but he always supported Bruce, no matter what–even when record executives didn’t understand “Nebraska” and its sound.
While White definitely doesn’t look like Springsteen, his singing was on point (but not an exact copy). Springsteen himself stated in multiple interviews that he didn’t want White to sound exactly like him, but to put his own spin and emotions into the songs.
White was trained by Eric Vetro, the voice coach who trained Timothee Chalamet for “A Complete Unknown” and who semi-permanently turned Austin Butler into Elvis; hopefully, White doesn’t sound like Springsteen in the next season of “The Bear.”
The Bad
Odessa Young plays a young woman named Faye, whom Bruce meets at a New Jersey club: The Stone Pony. The two quickly begin to date, but her character turns into a cliche—the local woman dating the emotionally distant rockstar.
Faye says to Springsteen, “Until you’re honest with yourself, you’ll never be honest with me.” While this line is true, it would have been better if her character was a real person.
Instead, Faye was a composite character of women that Springsteen dated in his life, causing her character to feel random and shallow.
The use of Faye, along with the character of her daughter, is almost manipulative in this film.
Springsteen is shown being a stand-in father for the daughter, just for it not to have actually happened. Their characters seem to be used to give Springsteen emotional depth, something that he already had and didn’t need fictional characters to bring to the surface.
The Ugly
The overarching drama of the movie is Springsteen’s struggles with depression, even though it’s only stated in the final 15 minutes of the film.
The film portrays Springsteen’s emotional breakdown in a hazy, distorted trip to the county fair.
His friend and manager already seem clued into his struggles, but the audience is not–unless they already have a background of knowledge about the singer. It should not be expected that viewers know everything about the artist before seeing a movie about them.
Suddenly showing Springsteen as someone on the edge of committing suicide felt unfair to viewers. The film doesn’t do the topic justice, as his struggle with depression has been a large part of his life.
This movie could not decide if it wanted to be a portrayal of Springsteen and his artistic process, his childhood trauma, his depression, or his relationship with a girl who doesn’t exist in Springsteen’s actual life.
The Conclusion
Going into this movie, I didn’t know much about Bruce Springsteen, besides the fact that “I’m On Fire” is one of the greatest songs ever made.
I give this movie props for covering the making and themes of “Nebraska” and Springsteen’s childhood trauma and relationship with his father in the way that it did. Viewers of this movie will hopefully gain an appreciation for the beautiful album created in this era.
My advice: if you want to see Jeremy Allen White, watch “The Bear.”
If you want to see Jeremy Strong, watch “Succession.”
However, if you insist on seeing this movie, be sure to visit your local theater on a Tuesday for half-priced tickets.