Review of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025) Dir. Scott Cooper
As Bruce Springsteen rises to fame, he starts making a record that no one expected. A passion project that helps him come to terms with his childhood trauma and the overwhelming nature of it all.
Whenever I think of biopics about musicians, I think of films like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman. These films at the time felt like they were fresh, new, and exciting. But these films also kickstarted a trend of making biopics about old musicians, most of which turn out to be mediocre. Bob Marley: One Love, Back to Black, and A Complete Unknown spring to mind. When it was announced that Bruce Springsteen would be getting a movie of his own, many people including myself were worried. Thankfully this movie proved me very wrong.
Don’t let the marketing for this film fool you, this film is not a rock and roll extravaganza about the rise and fall of Springsteen. But instead, a melancholic somber journey about a specific point in Springsteen’s life. This is the story about the making of the album Nebraska, and like Nebraska this film is a calm meditation about Springsteen as a person. His hardships and failures as a person in his past and present, fuel this film with heart and soul.
Jeremy Allen White, of Shameless and The Bear fame, is absolutely amazing as Bruce Springsteen. He manages to play a tormented soul so well, you really get the vibe that this is someone who is distraught and broken. As well as someone who is trying desperately to heal that part of himself through his music. But whilst everyone around him doesn’t believe in this record, he must stick to his guns and keep going.
You can feel that emotion through White’s performance. The brown eye contact lenses are a bit jarring at first, but you get used to it quite quickly. Not only that but Jeremy Allen White imitates Springsteen’s singing voice incredibly well. The raspy/gritty vocal delivery was surprising. This role should catapult Jeremy Allen White into a nomination for best actor when award season comes around.
A lot of musical biopics fail in the sense that they never give the audience a goal to reach or a moment to build to. They often meander as they tell their stories, which makes for a pretty boring watch. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere actually feels like it has a purpose. It all builds to a really heartwarming ending scene that has left a long-lasting impression on me, long after I exited the cinema. I really didn’t expect to feel so moved after this film, perhaps it was because I set the bar really low.
For me, this certainly was one of the best surprises at the London Film Festival. Because I didn’t expect much out of this film, I had been burned plenty of times by movies like these. But I am happy to report that Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, absolutely delivers in plucking at the heart strings.
★★★★
4/ 5
Jacob Holmes
Instagram: _jacob.holmes
Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/2vL6V
