Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere review

SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE: 

JEREMY ALLEN WHITE TRANSFORMS INTO BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IN SOLID MUSIC BIOPIC! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

20^TH CENTURY STUDIOS

Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

 

            Jeremy Allen White (Shameless, The Bear, The Iron Claw) becomes rock superstar, Bruce Springsteen to tell his untold story in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, the new film from director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Black Mass, Antlers) based on the 2023 novel of the same name by Warren Zanes. I had definitely heard Bruce Springsteen’s music before in the past but never knew his name until I saw the 2019 film, Blinded by the Light which was about a kid from Pakistan living in the UK who had a deep love for Springsteen’s music.

            Now we have a movie chronicling Springsteen’s life and career which I know absolutely nothing about. But I was very impressed with Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown last year who I also knew nothing about in terms of his personal life so, hopefully Springsteen will make just as big an impact…yeah, it’s a good film! 

            Let me get this out of the way, Jeremy Allen White is THE reason to see this film, he is magnificent as Bruce Springsteen to the point where if it was anyone else, it wouldn’t have worked. The movie itself is about the same as tons of other music biopics and hits a lot of the same notes in terms of storytelling, but I digress. 

            The film chronicles Bruce Springsteen (White)’s struggles with depression and finding a silver line between following his passion and working for the music industry. This all culminates in the creation of the 1982 album, Nebraska which he recorded in a bedroom and he and his manager friend, Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong-Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, The Apprentice) fought with the record company about preserving Springsteen’s artistic vision and making the bold decision to not have any press or singles for it. 

            The film also stars Stephen Graham (This is England, The Damned United, Public Enemies) as Bruce’s father Douglas Springsteen, Odessa Young (Assassination Nation, The Stand, The Damned) as Faye Romano, Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, The Naked Gun (2025)) as Mike Batlan, Gaby Hoffmann (Sleepless in Seattle, Wild, The Mastermind) as Bruce’s mother Adele Springsteen, Marc Maron (Sleepwalk with Me, Joker, The Bad Guys 1 and 2) as Chuck Plotkin, David Krumholtz (The Santa Clause trilogy, Harold & Kumar trilogy, Oppenheimer) as Al Teller, Harrison Gilbertson (Upgrade, In the Tall Grass, Oppenheimer) as Matt Delia, Grace Gummer (American Horror Story: Freak Show, Extant, Mr. Robot) as Barbara Landau, Chris Jaymes (In Memory of My Father) as Dennis King, Johnny Cannizaro (Jersey Boys) as Steven Van Zandt, and drummer Brian Chase as Mark Weinberg. 

            Overall, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is a well-crafted and engaging music biopic about how Springsteen’s Nebraska came to be with Jeremy Allen White giving an incredible performance as the titular rocker. Like I said in the beginning, White is the reason to see the movie as he perfectly encompasses Bruce Springsteen from his appearance, mannerisms, and singing voice. 

            He also really sells the emotional moments as a man who’s suffering from depression and has a complicated relationship with his father, White makes the film’s drama hit through his acting. Jeremy Strong who was amazing in The Apprentice last year is also a standout as Springsteen’s manager and friend who believes in Springsteen’s vision no matter how outlandish it gets with quite possibly his best scene being when he visits with the head of the record company regarding Nebraska.

            I will say the plot is pretty “Been there, done that” as it’s about an artist fighting for his craft against an industry that wants him to crank out a crowd-pleasing product. However, this is a tale that needs to be repeated regardless of what kind of industry it is, not just for music so, I get why it hits these familiar beats. 

            There are some moments where the film drags a bit, not to the point where I was getting bored and the movie is only 2 hours long, but certain scenes will go on for too long. I also felt the movie probably wanted to give more context about Bruce’s life but was cut down in editing and gives the audience insight on “some” events from his life. 

            Despite a few bumpy parts, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is a solid music biopic and a love letter to Bruce Springsteen’s music. I’m sure it’ll get some Oscar buzz especially for acting and I hope it does because that plus hearing Springsteen’s songs blast through the movie theater speakers are more than enough reasons to go see it.