A Tale of Two Springsteens

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Scott Cooper’s new film, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, presents two distinct sides of Bruce Springsteen, and it’s striking how different they are. One is a young, withdrawn artist who seems determined to isolate himself. We see him retreat to a house in Colts Neck, New Jersey, where he locks himself away and repeatedly watches the film Badlands, using it as inspiration while writing the deeply emotional songs that would become his 1982 album, Nebraska. Despite the album’s somber tone, the music itself feels full of potential, filled with lyrics about open roads, loneliness, and fleeting relationships. It’s a curious contradiction that Springsteen needed to confine himself to a small space in order to explore themes of freedom and vastness.

The film also reveals a different side of Springsteen – a powerfully intense performer who throws himself completely into his shows, even at smaller venues like the famous Stone Pony in Asbury Park. The director emphasizes both this energetic side and Springsteen’s more solitary, introspective nature, creating a fascinating tension throughout the documentary. This push and pull between these two sides of his personality hints at deeper truths about the creative process and his struggles with depression. While Springsteen doesn’t explicitly address these issues – perhaps lacking the words to do so despite his incredible songwriting ability – the film suggests he’s someone who needs support.

Jeremy Allen White excels at portraying inner turmoil, and he’s perfectly cast as Bruce Springsteen. While he doesn’t physically resemble the rock star as much as Springsteen himself, White captures the tense energy and hidden depths that define him. The film, Deliver Me From Nowhere, sometimes relies too heavily on pointing out Springsteen’s struggles, but White’s performance is so convincing that it works. He and the director also effectively show Springsteen’s vibrant and energetic side – every performance scene feels essential.

The documentary Deliver Me From Nowhere explores the period when Bruce Springsteen wrote the songs for both Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. It’s a fascinating contrast: everyone around him knew Born in the U.S.A. would be a massive hit, but he felt compelled to first create the raw, intimate sound of Nebraska – almost as if he needed to get it out of his system and make it sound like a home recording. The film suggests this process was a kind of personal release, connecting it to Springsteen’s difficult childhood through black-and-white flashbacks featuring an abusive, alcoholic father (played by Stephen Graham). While the film initially appears to be a typical story about overcoming a troubled past, director Cooper takes a more nuanced approach. He reveals Bruce gradually understanding that his father was also tormented by the same inner struggles. A pivotal memory involves watching Charles Laughton’s Night of the Hunter with his father, and young Bruce being frightened by Robert Mitchum’s terrifying villain. Initially, it seems Bruce identifies with the children being pursued, and his father with the menacing preacher. However, revisiting the film later, Bruce realizes his father also saw himself in the children, and that Mitchum’s character represents a deeper, inescapable darkness that haunted them both.

The film’s plot and structure feel somewhat predictable. We quickly see how Bruce’s romance with single mother Faye Romano (Odessa Young) will unfold, even though she initially seems uninterested. While their relationship is mostly portrayed as sweet and gentle, his emotional distance feels forced and doesn’t quite feel natural to the story. Meanwhile, Jeremy Strong delivers a fascinating performance as Bruce Springsteen’s manager, Jon Landau. He plays Landau with a quiet intensity – almost like every line is a carefully controlled breath – which makes the character more compelling than the script allows. Strong subtly shows how challenging it must be for Landau to support Springsteen, even when he doubts his decisions, especially considering Landau’s professional role as a businessman.

Most musical biopics today try hard not to feel like biopics, which ironically just makes them fit the formula even more. This film, Deliver Me From Nowhere, attempts to break the mold by focusing on a short period and the making of a single, unusual album. However, it still relies on familiar tropes like childhood memories and failed relationships. When it’s good, though, the film offers a genuine and surprisingly honest look at how creativity works – showing it as a process that can be painful, frightening, and even self-destructive. That alone makes it worth watching.

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2025-10-24 20:54