Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere Review

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, directed by Scott Cooper, is the latest rock artist biopic (eventually we’re going to have to get a Led Zeppelin one… right?) centered around Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White).

I’ll be honest — I’m not a big fan of Bruce Springsteen’s music. I know all the hits. I’ve heard them countless times. While that certainly helps with your enjoyment of the film, it doesn’t change the merit of the film’s quality itself. I’ve always felt almost the same about Bob Dylan’s work — and yet still found last year’s A Complete Unknown to be one of the better films of the year.

Unlike A Complete Unknown, though, Springsteen isn’t a summation of Bruce’s life or even his full career. It zeroes in on a very specific season. Having just finished a massive tour at the top of his fame, Bruce returns home to Freehold, New Jersey, where he begins processing his childhood trauma from his abusive father (Stephen Graham) through the writing of his acoustic album Nebraska — a seemingly odd career choice at the time.

As a story in and of itself, it works strongly. This just as easily could have been a character study revolving around a made-up artist. But as a real-life musician, it’s a bit more unconventional. Biopics typically cover a broader range, letting general audiences in on how the artist rose to notoriety. At times, as someone who didn’t follow Bruce’s career closely, I felt a bit out of the loop — though never to the point of being lost.

Bruce is inspired after seeing Badlands, drawn to the story of Charles Starkweather and its parallels to his own inner turmoil with his father — sparking an introspective acoustic project. During this period, he also pursues a former classmate’s sister, Faye Romano (Odessa Young). It’s curious how much time the film spends on this relationship despite Faye not being the woman Bruce eventually marries. Perhaps it was done in the spirit of accuracy, but it ultimately serves to drive home the film’s finer point.

Fortunately for Bruce, he has perhaps the most supportive manager of all time in Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong) — a refreshing contrast to the often villainized archetype in similar films. Jon is loyal to Bruce to a fault, fully backing his desire to make something personal instead of chasing big hits. When Bruce says, “I’m just trying to find something real in all the noise,” Jon replies, “You find something real and I’ll deal with all the noise.” Both Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong are excellent here — especially considering how White performs all the songs himself, capturing Bruce’s distinct tone and delivery with uncanny precision.

The film almost doesn’t count as a biopic, given how narrowly it focuses on one chapter of Bruce’s life — but it’s such a defining chapter that it shapes everything to come. Its central themes revolve around battling depression, seeking help, and most importantly: facing your past rather than running from it. It’s an important message, though I couldn’t help feeling the ending undercuts it slightly. The film closes with a title card reading, “Bruce continued to struggle with depression, but never again without help or hope.” Maybe that line was chosen for honesty — that success today doesn’t negate tomorrow’s battles — but as someone who’s personally wrestled with and overcome depression, I couldn’t help feeling there’s more to say. If nothing else, it deserved a stronger final note.

What I truly appreciated was the nuance in how Bruce’s relationship with his father is handled. It’s not the easy route of bitterness or revenge. The resolution isn’t triumph, it’s truth. When children are abused by their parents, they don’t necessarily love their parents less — they love themselves less. What Bruce longs for most is love from his father. In perhaps the film’s most moving moment, we see a young Bruce watching out the window as his dad comes home from work. His father stumbles into the kitchen and sits down. As young Bruce approaches, his dad gruffly asks, “What do you want, boy?” Cut to adult Bruce, who softly answers, “I just want to hear your voice.”

“And he asked that he might die, saying, ’It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.’ And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Arise and eat.’ And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, ‘Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.’ And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.”
— 1 Kings 19:4–8

Conclusion

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is another strong musical biopic — one that opts for a personal, introspective chapter of Bruce’s life rather than a sweeping career retrospective. It’s anchored by outstanding performances and an intimate story, even if its selective scope keeps it from fully delivering the emotional catharsis it reaches for. A solid film that even casual fans can appreciate — but one that ultimately feels made for the diehards.

7/10