Music biopics are always scattered in yearly movie releases, often spotlighting the most glamorous and raw chapters of a musician’s life. Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, however, takes a different route. Instead of chronicling Bruce Springsteen at the height of his fame during the release of his The River album, Cooper focuses on the time after, a time of regret and depression for Springsteen. While the result is an intimate portrait of Springsteen’s mental health during this period, the project doesn’t quite reach greatness.
Cooper focuses on the period before, during, and after the release of his 1982 album, Nebraska, when Springsteen was grappling with fame and depression. Rather than following a traditional biopic structure, the film slows down, inviting the audience into the quiet tension of Springsteen’s creative process.
Jeremy Allen White plays “The Boss” with an uncanny physical and vocal resemblance. Without explicitly noting that he’s singing himself in interviews, audiences could easily believe White was lip-syncing. At times, White’s performance edges toward overacting, which occasionally breaks the film’s immersion. Still, his portrayal captures a grounded vulnerability that makes his take on Springsteen compelling. A performance that is good, but not great.
The real standout is Jeremy Strong’s as Jon Landau. His heartfelt chemistry with White forms the film’s emotional core and provides a refreshing portrayal of a healthy and deeply respectful relationship between an artist and his manager. Strong brings both humor and humanity to every scene, serving as the film’s voice of reason and grounding presence amid Springsteen’s inner turmoil.
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Despite its big-name stars, the film features an incredible performance from Odessa Young as Faye Romano, Springsteen’s love interest at the time. Her portrayal is pure and understated, yet she steals every scene she’s in. The inclusion of Faye deepens Springsteen’s vulnerability, revealing more layers to his mental decline and his humanity beyond the stage persona.
At times, Cooper’s screenwriting over-explains certain moments, and combined with Pamela Martin’s editing, creates disjointed transitions between Springsteen’s present and past. The flashback scenes use a predictable black-and-white filter and appear in a few unnecessary moments, but they do help illustrate the experiences that shaped Springsteen’s music.
Those glimpses into the past are essential, because Springsteen’s childhood is so ingrained in his songs. To truly understand why he writes the way he does, it’s important to know his New Jersey blue-collar upbringing and his complicated relationship with his parents—especially his father. The film captures this history with tenderness and respect, grounding Springsteen’s art in the environment that defined him.
Deliver Me From Nowhere also pays a loving homage to New Jersey, especially Asbury Park. Filmed in some of the town’s most iconic locations, like the Carousel Building and The Stone Pony, the movie authentically portrays Springsteen’s roots and the place that raised him. It’s a heartfelt nod to hardcore fans who know that to understand Springsteen is to understand the Shore.
Springsteen’s music finds its appeal in these stories and the characters he creates that drive his albums and recurring themes. While this movie captures one meaningful point in his life well, a film more in the style of Todd Haynes’s I’m Not There — one that portrays different parts of Bob Dylan’s life through different characters of different races, ages, and genders — might have offered a broader, more artistic look at Springsteen’s entire artistic evolution and the multiple personas that have defined his career. There is so much to Springsteen; he should not only be defined by one of his lowest points.
But what is great about the story of Deliver Me from Nowhere is that the film isn’t scared to point out Springsteen’s flaws. Whether or not you care deeply about who Bruce Springsteen is, this film is about passion and honesty. It could easily succeed as a fictional story about creative struggle just as much as it does as a portrait of one of music’s most enduring figures. Deliver Me from Nowhere is not only the story of a legend, but one of human struggle and perseverance.
