Making a biopic about The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, is hard because of how vast his career is. Do you want to focus on his early days in Asbury Park before forming the legendary E Street Band? Or the troubled production of his breakthrough, Born to Run? The drama between him and Columbia during the production of his angsty Darkness on the Edge of Town is ripe for the picking as well.
Instead, Scott Cooper chose to adapt the making of his 1982 solo acoustic album, Nebraska, with Jeremy Allen White playing Springsteen in the biopic.
Based on Warren Zanes' 2023 book of the same name — which is well worth a page-turning read, even if you see the movie — Deliver Me from Nowhere follows Springsteen's journey to healing during the making of what remains his darkest album.
In the interest of fairness, yours truly — a big fan of Springsteen — was somewhat hesitant when this project was announced. For one, how would the blue-eyed Bear star be able to pull off The Boss?
That fear was put to rest with the first trailer, which showed White singing “Born to Run” and nailing The Boss' energy and voice from the early '80s. White captures Springsteen's essence from the No Nukes and River eras with ease when performing “Born to Run.”
However, there was still some reluctance, due to the hokeyness of some of the lines in the trailer. Nebraska was not a hit album in the traditional sense, but would the filmmakers be bold enough to stand by telling the album's story in the biopic? While White kills it with “Born to Run,” would Deliver Me from Nowhere really promote itself without relying on Springsteen's hits?
It takes a bold filmmaker to stand by Nebraska for a project like this, just as it takes a bold artist to stand by that same album after a string of hit albums most would consider their best (Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and The River).
What is Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere about?
Deliver Me from Nowhere begins with Springsteen at the River Tour — an itinerary that consisted of 140 shows in under a year — as he begins to look ahead.
Of course, label executives at Columbia are waiting for his next hit album. He finally reached No. 1 with The River, and they're hoping for more “Hungry Heart”-like hits.
Nowadays, with full context, we, the viewer, know that Springsteen ultimately would deliver that with Born in the U.S.A., which was ultimately born out of the Nebraska sessions. However, at the time, Springsteen was at a crossroads.
He moves back into a house full of orange shag carpet in Colts Neck, New Jersey, after his tour. There, he begins playing with new ideas for his forthcoming album.
Jeremy Allen White gives a devastating performance
White transforms into Springsteen in Deliver Me from Nowhere. Thanks to brown contacts and some clever blocking, he really looks like The Boss circa 1978.
The end of a tour means a dark time for Springsteen. This may explain why his tours go on for a while and his concerts exceed three hours.
Instead of taking time off, Springsteen returns to the famous Stone Pony to play with whoever is performing there (including someone who looks just like Greta Van Fleet's Jake Kiszka).
There's an emptiness that fills Springsteen in these sequences — from the aggressive guitar strumming to the blankness in his eyes while driving home from the Stone Pony.
White's performance goes beyond the gravely singing voice. Deliver Me from Nowhere isn't a traditional hero's journey or biopic. It's not about Springsteen rebounding before a big show or making his breakthrough.
Instead, it's about the personal healing of a rock star who looks invincible in front of tens of thousands of fans every night. It ends with a powerful scene between White and Stephen Graham, who plays Bruce's father, Douglas Springsteen.
Matthew Anthony Pellicano's performance should not go unnoticed either. He plays a younger version of Bruce, sharing the bulk of the tense sequences with Graham.
Making Nebraska
The emotional journey is only half of Deliver Me from Nowhere. The meat of the movie is Springsteen making Nebraska, which was famously recorded on a four-track cassette.
At the time, Nebraska was revolutionary and unprecedented. Nowadays, it appears all pop and rock stars lock themselves away and try to make their own Nebraska (e.g., Taylor Swift's Folklore/Evermore and Shawn Mendes' Shawn).
Some won't care about the technical aspects of the 1982 album. Cooper makes sure not to drone on about the four-track recorder for the sake of casuals, but it will fascinate any Springsteen fans.
Anyone who has listened to Nebraska knows how bleak it is. After all, Springsteen was inspired by Terrence Malick's Badlands, which did not inspire Springsteen's song of the same name.
Badlands was loosely based on Charles Starkweather and his murder spree in the '50s. Springsteen took the movie and the real-life story to heart, resulting in a shift in the album and title track's focus.
White has the explosive side of Springsteen's performances down pat. However, it's the quieter moments that are more impressive. Nebraska features some howls (“State Trooper”), but it's a lot of tender singing (“Mansion on the Hill”).
He toes the line between impersonation and parody. White's iteration of The Boss mostly mirrors Springsteen, especially on stage. There are differences, of course, but it never feels like a cheap SNL spoof.
For the most part, White sounds identical to Springsteen. Deliver Me from Nowhere shows Springsteen recording these songs, and if you squint, you'll believe you're watching a documentary.
Scott Cooper's script
There's a lot crammed into Deliver Me from Nowhere's 119-minute runtime. Even then, the movie probably could have been longer. The last few minutes cram a lot into them which would have worked better if they were fleshed out more.
Overall, Cooper does a good job of adapting Zanes' material. Zanes' Deliver Me from Nowhere is a page-turner, engrossing readers into the nitty-gritty of making Nebraska.
Cooper's script falls victim to some biopic conventions, which is inevitable. Deliver Me from Nowhere likes to remind viewers of the stakes of Springsteen making Nebraska. This mostly comes from the mouth of Jeremy Strong's Jon Landau, Springsteen's manager.
If you've seen Strong act, you've seen this performance. His self-serious take on Landau may tread familiar waters. It's at its best when he shares breakfast with Springsteen (Deliver Me from Nowhere spends an exceptional amount of time in diners).
The love story involving Odessa Young's Faye Romano — who presumably is a fictionalized account of one or more of Springsteen's past exes — serves the story, but even that can sometimes fall on deaf ears.
Still, Cooper's commitment to telling this personal story is commendable. He didn't make Deliver Me from Nowhere a jukebox music video a la Bohemian Rhapsody. Most other filmmakers likely would have followed Springsteen's journey from the Greetings from Asbury Park days to Born in the U.S.A.
Should you watch Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere?
At one time, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere was reported to be produced by A24, not the Disney-owned 20th Century Studios. And yet, this is the closest a studio like Disney will come to an A24 movie.
A year after A Complete Unknown, which portrayed Bob Dylan going electric at Newport, comes Deliver Me from Nowhere, which shows Springsteen at his most Dylan-like moment (despite the unease that comes with those comparisons for The Boss in the early '70s).
Like A Complete Unknown, Deliver Me from Nowhere tells the story of an equally mythical music legend. A Complete Unknown almost added to the mystique of Dylan, whereas Deliver Me from Nowhere deconstructs Springsteen.
Maybe Deliver Me from Nowhere lays the template for what other biopics should look like. Other legends like Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and even Queen have had a disservice done to them by way of paint-by-numbers jukebox-style biopics.
Will Deliver Me from Nowhere be a box-office hit? Maybe. But the making of Nebraska is a hard sell to the non-hipsters of Generation Alpha.
Even if it's not, you could argue that that's how Bruce Springsteen would want his biopic. In due time, Deliver Me from Nowhere will garner the appreciation that Nebraska has gotten.
Grade: A-
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere will be released on Oct. 24.
