Rent Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Written by: Scott Cooper (written for the screen by), Warren Zanes (based on the book "Deliver Me from Nowhere" by)
Directed by: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, Odessa Young, Marc Maron, Grace Gummer
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
Bruce Springsteen's journey crafting his 1982 album Nebraska, which emerged as he recorded Born in the USA with the E Street Band.
Verdict
This tries hard, but just because you make a biopic about a celebrity and fill it with known actors doesn't make it a good movie. I know Springsteen, but I wouldn't consider myself a fan which doesn't help either. I appreciate that this doesn't create an outline of his life and instead focuses on a narrow period of time where he was working on albums that would catapult him to broad stardom. Bruce tries to balance burgeoning fame with maintaining his small town roots. He wants to create an album focused on the music while the label wants to make him a star. It's a story that's been told before, but adding Springsteen to the mix doesn't change it.
Skip it.
Review
Cooper's previous films include Pale Blue Eye (2022), Antlers (2021), and Hostiles (2017). Springsteen has released twenty-one albums over more than fifty years. He's known for socially conscious lyrics portraying working class American life.
Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) closes his concert tour and then rents a house in a rural area. He's on the verge of stardom, but he wants to stay true to his small town roots. He's well known but doesn't feel like famous. He buys a car to get around, his first new car, and I appreciate that one of the radio ads is for "Action Park" a New Jersey theme park.
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| Jeremy Strong, Jeremy Allen White play Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen |
Much of the movie is Bruce writing songs in his house. He's inspired by the movie Badlands, researching the story at the local library. We also see flashbacks to his childhood and his difficult, violent father. Bruce also gets pressure from his manager Jon (Jeremy Strong) to produce another hit album, but he's chasing the music not the fame.
I imagine I'd like this more if I was a bigger Springsteen fan. He's jotting down song titles for his next album, and I'm not sure I recognized any of them. His manager and the label want the next album led by the sure hit Born in the U.S.A. Instead Bruce explores acoustic songs he's recording in his house. Bruce is becoming a star, but he's uncomfortable with it. He doesn't want to get lost in the brightness of stardom so he creates this album that defies convention to stay grounded. He wants an album focused on music instead of designed to make himself a star.
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| Jeremy Strong, Jeremy Allen White play Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen |
He also has a love interest, but that seems more geared to balance out the music and diversify the plot. It also ups the emotional stakes when Bruce heads to Los Angeles, leaving his problems, and girlfriend, behind. That doesn't fix things. Bruce is suffering and he reaches out to his manager who urges him to get professional help. That's what leads to Bruce seeing a therapist.
His acoustic album Nebraska did well despite no marketing, but his next album Born in the U.S.A. made him a global star. I imagine I'd appreciate this more if I was a Springsteen fan. It's a look at his inspiration, roots, and attitude on fame. I'm not sure I needed a movie to inform me of that.
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