SPRINGSTEEN: Deliver Me From Nowhere

 

Jeri Jacquin

Currently on Digital and coming to 4K Bluray from director Scott Cooper and 20^th Century Studios is the story of an icon with SPRINGSTEEN: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

Spending some time after his latest tour, Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) finds a house in Freehold, New Jersey so that he spent time writing songs. Spending time with friend Matt (Harrison Gilbertson), he also buys a car and heads to the play with The Stony Pony. He also ran into people he knew whether they liked his music or not. Trying to deal with a rush of memories, the record executive Al Teller (David Krumholtz) is asking Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong) when the next album would be ready.

Springsteen is being haunted by the memories of his father Douglas (Stephen Graham) who was an alcoholic and mother Adele (Gaby Hoffmann) who consistently tries to keep harm from coming to a young Bruce. The words start pouring out of him and he realizes that the music might not please the executive. Springsteen and his tech Mike (Paul Walter Hauser) create a makeshift studio on the house and record from there. Not understanding his behaviors is Faye (Odessa Young), a woman trying to have a relationship with Springsteen but she can’t get past the walls he has created.

When the cassette is delivered to the execs, they are clearly not happy with the results. Landau explains that these songs are deeply personal for Springsteen and that the conditions for the album are set in stone. In the studio, another album coms together. would also include the song Born in the U.S.A. Landau turns to masters who manage to save the raw words and music Springsteen created in his home which comes in the form of the album Nebraska.

His dynamic with his father begins to change but everything, the memories of childhood, his musician’s life and relationships push him into a dark place that frightens him to the point of collapse. Turning to his friend, it is time for Springsteen to face the past and embrace the future he was born to.

White as Springsteen takes his performance into the darker side of the iconic musician’s life. Battling demons, he spent his life pushing so hard against. As with all demons, they eventually push there way into life and it is through words and music that it all comes back. White gives a stellar performance showing a man very clear on what is causing his inability to do what he wants to do but unclear on how to keep it from owning him. White gives a harsh but painful reality to that confusion and does so with a grace that is steeped in heartbreak.

Strong as Landau is a man clearly in touch with what Springsteen is able to accomplish and, although he might not understand it at times, he is the one man who will fight for him to the end. Strong’s performance is thoughtful, insightful and giving us a look at a friendship most of us will never know in this life.

Graham as father Douglas is a man with his own liquid demons that also cannot be controlled. It is not a surprise where Springsteen learned it from. Graham’s performance is one of harshness and a regret that comes with age. Hoffmann as mother Adele is a woman who, in essence, fights back until her son can fight on his own. She comes from an era where you don’t throw away a husband because of his flaws and you support a son that is doing what he loves.

Krumholtz as record exec Teller cannot seem to grasp the concept of Springsteen’s music but that’s because he only sees dollar signs and not music. Krumholtz gives his character the right amount of ick-factor to get the job done. Hauser as Mike is another supporter of his friend Springsteen and is the constant messenger that takes nothing but his friend’s music to heart.

Other cast include Marc Maron as Chuck Plotkin, Grace Gummer as Barbara Landau, Chris Jaymes as Dennis King, Johnny Cannizzaro as Steven Van Zandy, and Brian Chase as Max Weinberg. Also, Jay Buchanan, Jake Kiszka, Sam Kiszka as Cats on a Smooth Surface.

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Digital & 4K Bluray Bonus Materials include Exclusive Four-Act Documentary: Making SPRINGSTEEN: Deliver Me From Nowhere and Act 1: From Book to Screen, Act 2: Beyond the Music, Act 3: Becoming Bruce Springsteen, and Act 4: Deep Authenticity.

SPRINGSTEEN: Deliver Me From Nowhere is quite a powerful biopic and what makes it so is that most of us during the time were Dancing in the Dark , there was no way to know what lie beneath the surface. It follows that what we see on stage, the performance and the energy, might not always be what lives in the heart of the performer. This story is more personal than I have seen from biopics in recent years (with perhaps the exception of Bohemian Rhapsody).

I loved the telling of the story that isn’t hindered by anything other than White giving us a nosedive into where Springsteen was at that time in his life. Wanting to create something that would last instead of what can be listened to and forgotten after a few plays, all of that came at a cost – the past. Finding his way forward, the journey was hard, frightening and yet life affirming. We could all use a bit of that at the moment.

In the end – he finds music his way!