SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE – Review

We must be “all in” for the end-of-the-year awards season as we’ve got a new big biographical film of a music superstar from an acclaimed director. Last year, Christmas Day to be exact, filmgoers got to do a deep dive into the 60s musical odyssey of Bob Dylan with James Mangold’s A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Though it didn’t garner as many awards (and box office) as BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY in 2018, it still racked up lots of critical raves (and even a Sag Best Actor for its star Timothee Chalomet). Now, like that earlier biopic, this one showcases another rising young star who is best known for an acclaimed TV show. Oh, but the big difference is that this is set a couple of decades later, at the start of the 1980s. Still, there’s a lot of musical “common ground between “Mr. Zimmerman” and SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE. As “the Boss” might say, “One, two…”.

After a brief black and white prologue with our young hero riding his bike through the means streets of Long Branch, New Jersey, the story jumps ahead to the splashy color of 1981 as fans are left breathless after the final concert number from Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) at a packed arena. As he winds down backstage, his trusted manager Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong) tells him that after a few post-concert dealings (including an interview with “Creem” magazine, remember it), his rental home on a lake in Colts Neck, New Jersey is ready. After he settles in there, the Boss contemplates his next album while recalling his turbulent early life with dutiful mother Adele (Gaby Huffman) and his boozing, abusive father Douglas (Stephan Graham). Later, in an effort to “blow off some steam” he joins the local rockers at The Stone Pony bar/music venue in Asbury Park. As he leaves, Bruce runs into an old high school buddy, who introduces him to his sister Faye (Odessa Young), a single mother working at a nearby diner. She gives him her number, in case he wants to “hang” sometime. Chilling back at his lake house, he does a bit of channel “surfing” and stumbles upon the 1973 Terrence Malick classic BADLANDS. Bruce is riveted, heading to the library to gather more info on the film’s inspiration, killer Charles Starkweather, then returning home to jot down lyrics and strum on his guitar. He has an epiphany: the new song collection “Nebraska” will have no polished studio sound. He brings in his audio-tech Mike Batlan (Paul Walter Hauser) to record a demo tape using very low tech (cassettes). When Landau meets Columbia Records’ Al Teller (David Krumholtz), the exec is stunned by Bruce’s subject matter and his rules. There will be no singles, right after Bruce landed a single on the Billboard top ten. But Jon and Bruce persist. Meanwhile, the Boss struggles to get “the sound” just right while the process dredges up brutal memories from childhood. Can a burgeoning romance with the “hometown gal” vanquish the inner demons inside the rising rock and roll superstar?

Wow, in this film you get two (yes two) great Jeremys heading the ensemble. First, of course, is White, who we’ve not seen on the big screen since 2023’s THE IRON CLAW (though he continues to cook up a storm on TV’s “The Bear”). Without the use of prosthetic makeup, but with a little color “tweaking” in his curly mane, he makes us believe that he’s the “Boss”. He’s got that confident strut as he wields that guitar like a gladiator’s broadsword before the adoring throngs. But he’s more Clark Kent as leaves the backstage door, trying to blend in with the “average Joes”. However, White shows us his simmering intensity, whether achieving his artistic goals, struggling to put the right words in his battered notebook, or clamping down on his childhood monsters. Plus, he projects an almost boyish charm during his “downtime” with Faye. The other J is the superb Mr. Strong (so wonderful in last year’s THE APPRENTICE) as the laser-focused Landau. He’s Bruce’s strong right hand, whether he’s dealing with the press or anxious record execs demanding more “hits”. Strong’s stare seems to burrow into White’s brain, forming a connecting line of creative thought. The two actors’ performance anchor the tale. But then they have a great supporting cast. Young exudes a sexy “tough gal” persona as the smitten, but steadfast (not putting up with any “Boss BS”) as Faye. Hauser provides a few needed laughs as the perplexed but hard-working audio geek, Mike (he questions, but never refuses Bruce’s needs). The other big emotional role may be Graham as the stoic papa Stephan who lashes out in order to “toughen up” his boy, while casting a dark shadow that looms over the crumbling house, leaving Hoffman as mama Adele as the sole bright light in the lad’s life. Krumholtz is also funny as recording bigwig Teller, while the great Marc Maron shines with just a few lines as audio mixer Chuck Plotkin.

The acclaimed filmmaker is director/screenwriter (adapting the book “Deliver Me from Nowhere” by Warren Zanes) is Scott Cooper (CRAZY HEART), Wisely, he decided to focus in on an important year or two in Bruce’s life, rather than giving a full “life story” (though we do have those 1957 snippet flashbacks), to not get into the cliché biopic “checklist” (then he did this, then that, then…) which gives the personal drama more room to “breathe”. Also, it allows Cooper to really explore the creative process of an artist, which is usually a “stumbling block” (always a problem with stories about writers). At times, Bruce seems rigid and too unwavering, but Cooper shows us that it’s a quest for purity in the music’s intent. The era of the early 80s is painstakingly recreated with nods to pop culture and a big ode to the power of cinema, not only BADLANDS (young Bruce watches a 1950s cult classic with his pop). The pace is rather languid, with bursts of the remarkable rock and folk anthems. At times that measured pace is sidetracked by the romantic subplot, (it somewhat evaporates by the final act) which doesn’t add much to the story of the creation of an album. And a few fans may wish there were more recreations of the marathon concerts, but Cooper gives us enough of a taste to convey the power of Mr. S. But in those final moments, Cooper provides a positive message about seeking help from mental health professionals (might nudge those struggling to see a “rock god” getting back on track) It’s not a bombastic tune-filled spectacle, but rather a powerful, intimate portrait of a man exploring new artistic territory while exploring his own past. That power of creation fuels SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE.

3.5 Out of 4

SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE is now playing in theaters everywhere