“Springsteen: Deliver me From Nowhere” is a new movie directed by Scott Cooper about singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen. Specifically, it covers what his life looked like from 1981 to 1982, with flashbacks to his childhood in the mid 1950’s. With actor Jeremy Allen White playing Bruce Springsteen, the film was a banger, checking every box a biopic should, as well as tugging on the heartstrings of many watchers. 

In casting, this film deserves a solid 4/5. With Jeremy Allen White playing an adult Springsteen, and Matthew Pellicano Jr. as a young Springsteen, saying that these actors look alike would be a far reach. Although Jeremy Allen White doesn’t strongly resemble how Springsteen looked in his early 30s, Matthew Pellicano resembles how Springsteen looked as a child, which earns points in casting. 

With acting, it isn’t a reach to say that Jeremy Allen White is an incredibly strong actor by not just playing the role, but adopting and morphing into the role he’s given. Throughout the movie, there are many moments where the audience doesn’t just feel like they’re watching the movie, but they’re in the scene. A lot of these moments came from the recording studio scenes. In these scenes, Jeremy Allen White would act in the ways that an actor who is just playing the role acts. It felt as if he understood the role, learned it, practiced, and spent a lot of time on this role, taking it as seriously as he could. It’s clear that with this film, the audience isn’t just watching, they’re in the movie. They’re in the recording studio, they’re in the bedroom, they’re in the car. 

However, don’t be fooled. This movie is not about Springsteen’s entire life. As said earlier, it is centered around his life in 1981-1982 and what his life looked like with depression at this time. During these years, Springsteen was known to be very closed-off, serious, sharp, and exploitative towards women. Struggling from intense childhood trauma, Springsteen would spend most of his time at home, writing music, recording, watching television, and zoning out into space. In the film, there’s a character by the name of Faye Romano, who although was fictional, represented the many women in Springsteen’s life during this time. In the film, Faye was the woman that Springsteen would call when he felt like it, when he was lonely, or when he was in a good headspace, not being controlled by his avoidant attachment and depression. Faye was a present character almost throughout the entire film, being portrayed as a working class, single mother, who had been worn thin of giving Bruce multiple chances to try again, but eventually gave up. Due to his parents’ complicated relationship, Springsteen was shown to avoid getting attached or falling in love, even if it was genuine. Towards the end of the movie, however, Bruce, after avoiding Faye’s calls and messages, proceeds to go to the diner Faye works at, continuing his streak of giving out mixed signals, even though deep down he knows it won’t last or work out. 

Another great component was how the music making was shown and what it was like for Springsteen. The writing, recording, and trial and error. In the movie, you watch Springsteen struggle to find inspiration, until one night he turns on the television to a movie called ‘‘Badlands.” Immediately, he finds inspiration and begins writing song after song based on this movie, but adjusting it to be more personal and to relate more to his personal life. This album would soon be released under the name “Nebraska,” but not before trial and error of making it perfect. The album had to have just enough scrappiness, rawness, honesty, and change for Springsteen to see it as perfect.

All in all, this movie is worth every penny, even for those who don’t like rock. It has so much energy, authenticity, and emotion, and really makes the audience feel like they are in his life, like words going into his journal. If there was one word to describe this movie, it would be authentic, because the directors really did not hesitate to call out Springsteen’s habits and behavior, as well as other people’s. In conclusion, this movie deserves at least a 4/5.