150 Word Review: 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere' (2025)
My father's house
Portrait of an artist as a young rocker. Last year’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown freed itself from that genre’s usual rags-to-rock-and-roll-riches story. Director Scott Cooper pulls off the same trick in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. Whether or not you are familiar with The Boss (and who isn’t?), you’re introduced to a successful musician winding down after a high-energy performance. He’s at the end of something and about to begin a new journey, which feels obvious at first.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is more than “How was Born in the U.S.A. written?” It’s a surprising exploration of childhood trauma, depression, and forgiveness. Jeremy Allen White is almost too soulful and pouty as Bruce Springsteen, but his scenes with Jeremy Strong, as manager Jon Landau, are genuinely intimate; these friends clearly love each other. Stephen Graham is terrifying/gutting as Bruce’s alcoholic dad. Springsteen isn’t perfect, but he tries.
#ICYMI 150 Word Review: ‘A Complete Unknown’ (2024)
My Favorite Rock Biopic: ‘La Bamba’ (1987)
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