Music biopics are always a difficult genre to tackle – with everything from casting to storyline and soundtrack inevitably coming under harsh scrutiny. And director Scott Cooper had his work cut out for him in tackling Bruce Springsteen in his big-screen adaptation of Warren Zanes’ acclaimed book on the making of the album ‘Nebraska’.
As a casual Springsteen listener – and one more likely to gravitate to ‘Nebraska’ than ‘Born In The USA’ – I could appreciate this film for what it is: A pretty well-executed snapshot of a difficult time in The Boss’ personal and professional life, one that bypasses ego, myth and indulgence to tell a fragile human story. Because of this, you don’t need to be a fan to be wrapped up in ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’, which is one box ticked when it comes to music biopic challenges.
Another is casting, and Jeremy Allen White brings the same emotional gravitas as he delivers in ‘The Bear’ – all taut, contained energy, deep but concealed sadness and a body that never fully relaxes. White’s casting, on paper, seemed ambitious, but on screen he does a decent job at bringing Springsteen’s early-'80s physicality to life (though, big fans of ‘The Bear’ may struggle to not see Carmy in a few scenes).
The film covers the brief period coming off touring fifth album ‘The River’, which delivered Springsteen’s first Top 5 song in ‘Hungry Heart’. It’s a tale as old as rock & roll: Going from playing to packed arenas across the country to suddenly being back home, to a life that feels less real than being on the road. This is where we find The Boss, settling into a new rental house in rural Colts Neck, New Jersey and getting his fix playing guitar for cover-set jams at Asbury Park’s iconic Stone Pony (incidentally, a bar I was once booted from for throwing a frisbee inside). He’s facing record label pressure to ride his newfound mainstream success with a quick followup to ‘The River’ to take out on tour again, but The Boss is spent. And, as the opening scene hints at, he also has a lot of childhood trauma bubbling to the surface.
It’s in that modest (albeit stunning) lakeside rental that Springsteen begins work on the most downbeat professional chapter of his life, making the Colts Neck recordings that would inevitably form the dark heart of ‘Nebraska’.
There are some stand-outs in the support cast, most notably ‘Succession’’s Jeremy Strong as Springsteen’s long-time producer and then manager Jon Landau, who shows up as a sensible but sensitive foil for The Boss. Cooper does an excellent job of portraying their relationship and friendship. Australian actress Odessa Young (most recently seen as tattoo artist Gen and Jason Bateman’s daughter in Netflix series ‘Black Rabbit’) is fantastic as Springsteen’s love interest Faye Romano, a bright but life-toughened single mother who sees in The Boss what he certainly can’t see in himself. She is, however, fictional; the Debbie Harry-esque Faye served as a sort of composite of the women Springsteen dated at the time. And Stephen Graham – the creator-star of the incredible ‘Adolescence’ – offers a powerful portrayal of Springsteen’s abusive father, who we largely get to know through harrowing black-and-white memories that increasingly begin to haunt The Boss.
Also, Marc Maron is a bit of a treat when he turns up as mixing engineer Chuck Plotkin in the studio. Being a music and audio-gear nerd, we imagine it was a bit of a dream gig – even if he had about three lines to remember for the role.
Stylistically, Cooper does a fantastic job of capturing the desolation and quiet despair of The Boss as he pushes on while unravelling in real time. He lends space and quiet to scenes of just Springsteen in his house, or walking down the street, or while contemplating life on the Asbury Park boardwalk outside the grand Convention Hall. The ‘faded glamour’ of the boardwalk and its buildings that have seen better days serve as a perfect visual cue for the ghosts haunting The Boss in this tough time. Fortunately, Cooper steers clear of overindulging the ‘tortured artist’ trope, instead leaning into the stillness and solitude. The film is shot in muted tones that feel like ‘Nebraska’ sounds – grainy, raw, stripped down and painfully human.
Despite record-company scepticism, ‘Nebraska’ would go on to be a turning point in Springsteen’s professional and – as this film details – personal life. It sold a fraction of his following album ‘Born In The USA’, but is heralded as a timeless masterpiece and a landmark moment in his extensive catalogue.
Fittingly, ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’ is much like that collection of songs – it refuses to glamourise struggle or romanticise isolation. This biopic won’t be what a lot of fans want, nor what many will be expecting, and it’s certainly not perfect – a few less flashback scenes would have had the same impact, the mental health aspect was perhaps a little simplified and some may see White’s performance as a little too 'emo'. However, it does a lot more things right than wrong.
