The new Bruce Springsteen biopic is a dull, substandard watch—and I am saying that as a longtime Springsteen fan.
I was pretty young during Springsteen’s initial run to fame, ranging from 7 to 16 years old from the release of Born to Run (1975) through his blast into superstardom with Born in the U.S.A (1984).
Nebraska (1982), the album before Born in the U.S.A., was a curveball from The Boss with demos of himself doing stark, mostly acoustic tapings in his very simple home studio. I remember the surprise that surrounded its initial release—and its mammoth critical acclaim. Then Born in the U.S.A. came out and reshaped Springsteen’s public persona. He was a stadium rocker with an established, respected and perhaps darker depth.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere tries to capture that period while he was recording Nebraska, when Springsteen bucked the trends of his own rising fame to release something personal, quiet and somber, stalling his mega-stardom for a couple of years.
While Jeremy Allen White delivers a good performance as Springsteen, and often does his own singing, it’s also a bit too one-note in that his Springsteen is almost completely devoid of joy and humor. Nobody would want to hang out with this guy.
No doubt, there’s a darker side to Springsteen’s emotional makeup. The songs of Nebraska were influenced in part by the terrible life of spree killer Charles Starkweather. Springsteen is depicted in Deliver Me From Nowhere viewing Badlands, a film by Terrence Malick loosely based on Starkweather.
Sadly, I would have to recommend a viewing of Badlands and a couple of passes through Nebraska on Spotify over viewing Deliver Me From Nowhere. You’d get the gist of what Springsteen was feeling and doing at the time without having the life bored out of you.
White does a commendable job of capturing the essence of Springsteen in the moments that feature his voice. Generally, when we see White singing, that’s him, and when we hear the Nebraska tracks without White visibly performing them, it’s the real Bruce. I must stress: Nebraska is a great album, and this part of the movie is strong.
But beyond the music, the picture lacks life. White broods through most of his screen time, which includes a romance with Faye (Odessa Young), a composite character representing multiple people Springsteen dated before he married. This part of the film is as stereotypical as you can get.
The depiction of The Boss created by White and director Scott Cooper is just too dour. Yes, this film depicts a dark, conflicted stretch in Springsteen’s life when he was battling depression, but it’s not entertaining to watch somebody mope through a flat two hours of screen time. I’m sure he was bummed out during the Nebraska sessions, but I’m also guessing he, a man of significant depth, cracked a smile, told a few jokes and ate a few candy bars during the rough stretches.
Bruce Springsteen’s recordings, even the dark Nebraska, are full of life. This movie lacks the dimension he deserves.