Not even a full year after Timothee Chalamet impressed audiences with his transformative performance as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, we have our next in a long line of singer songwriter biopics. This time around, Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) takes centre stage as American rockstar Bruce Springsteen, in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart). The biopic follows The Boss, as he’s named by his fandom, as a young musician on the cusp of global stardom as he struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past. More of a slower-paced character study than a musical biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere showcase a talented cast and likable story beats, but is weighed down by a generic approach with a lack of music.
Jeremy Allen White is slowly becoming a household name after his performances as chef Carmy in The Bear, Lip Gallagher in Shameless US and Kerry Von Erich in The Iron Claw. Whilst Springsteen may not be his best work to date, fans will be impressed by his turn as the much-loved singer-songwriter. His strongest attribute is his singing voice, which not only closely mimics that of Springsteen but is genuinely very good. Due to the time in Bruce’s life that the movie is set, White doesn’t get to flex his acting skills as far as other projects have allowed him to, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t up to the task. Both looking and sounding the part, fans of White and Springsteen should come away satisfied by this performance. Starring as manager Jon Landau is Jeremy Strong (The Gentlemen), who does well with the material given. It’s refreshing to experience a nice manager who sides with Springsteen, as this isn’t often the case in biopics such as this, meaning a likable relationship is put to the screen. Odessa Young (The Order) impresses as composite character/love interest Faye Romano, Paul Walter Hauser (I, Tonya) is as funny as ever as guitar tech Mike Batlan, and Stephen Graham (Adolescence) is the perfect embodiment as Springsteen’s father, Douglas. None of the cast deliver career-best work, but their talent is appreciated regardless.
Whilst the storyline is easily digestible and has some interesting arcs within it, it occasionally lets audiences down due to a slower than necessary approach. The central ideas of Bruce being scared of fame, battling poor mental health and wanting to make a stripped-back record against the wishes of his fans and label are all great, but wind up creating a watch that isn’t all that intriguing or engaging. In simple terms, not a great deal really happens, although the key ingredients are present. The love interest element provides a bit of romance that some viewers will appreciate, though is very underbaked despite White and Young having decent chemistry. The biggest letdown, however, is how generic it becomes. Whether it’s a result of just genuinely being based on someones real life, or that we’ve seen too many movies of this ilk recently, Deliver Me From Nowhere does little to stand out. It provides another story about a male musician who has a tough upbringing with an alcoholic/absent father, fights against his label due to wanting to change up his style, struggles to hold down a relationship and battles with his view of himself. The mental health aspect is explored well, and it’s worthwhile for Springsteen fans to see this side to their hero, but it’s not balanced with anything else to chew on. Despite being about Bruce Springsteen as opposed to Elvis, Elton John, or Bob Dylan, it feels overly familiar.
The above could be forgiven if Deliver Me From Nowhere gave audiences some excitement within the filmmaking, as we know Scott Cooper is a talented director, but unfortunately this aspect falls flat too. Feeling completely devoid of any style, the movie moves at a slow pace and lacks the flair and energy that biopics need to jump off the screen. It’s biggest sin is the lack of music, which again has to be blamed on the time of his life the movie is set. Peaking too early by showing a segment of the iconic track ‘Born To Run’ within the first ten minutes then failing to revisit this side of his music again, viewers are left with a musical biopic that lacks the reason we’re here in the first place – his music. There are plenty of scene involving Jeremy Allen White’s Bruce sat with a guitar, writing music and creating album ‘Nebraska’, but this soon becomes repetitive as the same lyrics are explored again and again. Furthermore, by focussing on such a small part of Bruce’s life, we don’t wind up learning that much about him or his life, which will ring especially true for his fans. Due to a lack of flair, style and most importantly, rock music, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere fails to show audiences how much of an iconic Bruce really is.
The cast are talented, the script has some keen ideas and the director certainly crafts a competent character study, but as a biopic centering on one of the great American rock stars, it’s quite the let down. Feeling generic in story, plain in filmmaking and quiet in music, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere can’t ride on its good performances alone, delivering more bland a story than fans deserve.
