Take 39: Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
In Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Jeremy Allen White is Bruce Springsteen. Based in part on the book of the same name by Warren Zanes with some elements from Springsteen’s autobiography, Born to Run, the film is about the early period in his career when he on the threshold of greatness and working on his 1982 album, Nebraska. Although he is flourishing in his professional life, he finds himself plagued by personal struggles from his past while trying to produce and album that is true to him and will be accepted by his label in this crucial time in his career.
Going in this film, I can honestly say I am not much of a Bruce Springsteen music person. “Dancing in the Dark” and “Born in the USA” are about the extent of knowledge of his catalogue (oh, and “I’m On Fire” which I didn’t even know I knew was his until the day before seeing this) but I am always up for a good biography, whether I know the person or not. I appreciate the fact that I have been conditioned to no longer expect the full spectrum of the subjects life, from start-to middle-to end. I had been burned by the likes of Ali and Mama Ree Ree in Respect but here, I was aware that we weren’t going to get something all encompassing so points to that.
Based on the little I know of Springsteen, White is convincing and pulls off a few of the mannerisms that even I could recognize. His look maybe a little more like later era, but he works in this He conveys all of the emotions: the confidence, the simplicity, the loneliness of the Boss. Yeah, it’s all there. The entire cast is serviceable.
One of my favorite conventions used is a simple one. We are basically in two eras here—- 1982 and the 1957 Springsteen’s youth. When were are in his childhood, those scenes are in black and white. Nothing fancy or artsy about it, but it makes a clear delineation and I appreciated it.
The plot itself is fine, but I will say, it did feel a little slow. And although there is conflict, is feels pretty low stakes in the grand scheme of things. It’s not until the very end of the film that we see just how dire the situation is for Springsteen so I do not mean to make light of it in retrospect, but in my opinion, the film does not really give it the urgency it needs. There are also a few things that just seem like they were sloppy editing. Case in point, apparently Bruce has a sister. At least I assume he does. She appears out of no where in exactly one scene with zero introduction, but yeah, she was there I guess???
I am always interested in learning more about people’s lives. I had always liked Springsteen’s persona, maybe because I got to see him at the OSU campus while campaigning for Al Gore in 2004. He has always been enduring to me so my goodwill for him is high. It extended to this movie. I do have a great appreciation of the man now, so mission accomplished. I can’t say I loved it, but definitely didn’t dislike it though either. Overall though, I liked it. But it kinda just was.
My score: 7
Did this film deliver for you? Let me now in the comments. And until next time…
