Movie Review: ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’

10/29/2025 by Corrye Van Caeseele-Cook

Plot: The latest music biopic from director Scott Cooper, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere examines a period of time just after Bruce Springsteen’s (Jeremy Allen White) successful The River tour. On the cusp of international superstardom, The Boss also finds himself under immense studio pressure to release a commercial album. The film chronicles Springsteen’s journey to release his seminal 1982 album Nebraska, his first solo effort, and an album that would influence and inspire musicians throughout the world. Meanwhile, Bruce also deals with his own personal inner turmoil, depression, and father issues.

Review: Here’s a weird thing to admit: I’m not really into music. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate music or revere certain artists and their work, I’ve just never been a collector or someone who listens to the radio while they’re driving. I’d rather tune into an audiobook or a podcast.

So it was with certain degree of surprise that I found myself gravitating towards Bruce Springsteen earlier this year. I grew up with The Boss. When “Born in the USA” hit shelves in the mid-80s it felt like every other song on the radio was a hit from that album. However, I’d never really followed his career in depth despite how prolific he was. It wasn’t until about sixth months ago that I randomly picked his autobiography off the shelf at the library. I found it fascinating and captivating. Next I read Warren Zanes’ book about the making of Nebraska, which director Scott Cooper’s movie is based upon. Then I actually listened to the album. For a period of a few months I was in the middle of a Bruce tornado. To say I was looking forward to the Jeremy Allen White led biopic was an understatement.

But does the biopic live up to the legend it’s based off of?

While I believe that there’s a dynamic, vibrant movie to be made about the life of Bruce Springsteen, this isn’t it. Although Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is by no means a disaster, it never ascends to the lofty cinematic heights I was hoping for.

Deliver Me From Nowhere‘s shortcomings stem largely from director Scott Cooper. Cooper has always been a bit of a mystery to me. Occasionally he releases some revelatory works like Crazy Heart and Hostiles. Other times it’s blatant misfires like Out of the Furnace and Antlers. Inconsistency, thy name is Scott Cooper. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere falls somewhere in the middle. While Cooper makes the inspired choice to focus solely on a specific time in Bruce’s life rather than a cradle to grave biopic, he never does anything remotely interesting with the material.

Cliches plague Deliver Me From Nowhere, whether it’s the struggling artist dealing with depression, or not being able to maintain a relationship because there’s something broken inside, Daddy issues, isolation, etc. Yes I know that all of these things actually happened to Bruce Springsteen, but as a director your job is to elevate what’s on the page, and Cooper never succeeds at that task. Along with cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi, Scoot Cooper shoots Deliver Me From Nowhere in a very generic, straightforward way. The pair rely too heavily on long drawn out close-ups, to the point that it became noticeably annoying. There were so many shots of White staring morosely into the void that I lost count. Cooper’s screenplay also severely under develops most of the film’s supporting characters, particularly Bruce’s mother, father, and love interest Faye. I understand that the primary focus by definition needs to be on Bruce, but you’d expect some modicum of character development.

What rescues Deliver Me From Nowhere from the depths of mediocrity are the stellar acting performances and the celebration of Bruce Springsteen’s music. Jeremy Strong, fresh off his Oscar nomination for last year’s The Apprentice, once again delivers a righteous performance as Springsteen’s manager, record producer, and close friend Jon Landau. Landau continually champions Bruce’s vision to release Nebraska as is with no promotion, no tours, and no interviews. Yet he’s also desperately worried about Bruce’s mental state and what the songs within Nebraska seem to imply. If anything I wanted more of Strong in Deliver Me From Nowhere. Odessa Young and Stephen Graham also excel as Faye and Douglas Springsteen respectively, despite some script shortcomings. The ever reliable Paul Walter Hauser also shines in a small role as Mike Batlan, Springsteen’s recording engineer for the Nebraska sessions. Ditto David Krumholtz as Al Teller, a record executive at Columbia.

Yet it is Jeremy Allen White’s phenomenal performance as The Boss that ultimately captivates the viewer. While no one will ever mistake White as a dead ringer for Bruce Springsteen, he expertly captures the soul of the man. White learned to sing, play the guitar, and play the harmonica for the role and it showed. It lends an air of authenticity that I appreciated. White even goes so far as to show how Bruce played to the point of complete exhaustion during his concerts. Moreover, White clearly conveys Bruce Springsteen’s state of mind and emotional burdens during this time. This was a man who felt desperate, guilty, and tormented by the world he was leaving behind and the world he knew he was about to step into. Every gesture, every facial expression, every chord screams this. It’s also just a fascinating look at the lengths an artist will go to release their vision as is and without compromise.

Above all, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is a celebration of Bruce Springsteen’s music. Springsteen fans will undoubtedly be well pleased in that regard. I especially appreciated White’s renditions of “My Father’s House” and the title track “Nebraska.” Yet my favorite moment was watching Bruce and the E Street Band record his signature song “Born in the USA” in studio. It was absolutely transcendent.

Although ultimately Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere isn’t the groundbreaking film I was hoping it would be, it nevertheless is a serviceable music biopic with excellent performances and a killer soundtrack.

My rating system:

1 God Awful Blind Yourself With Acid Bad

2 Straight Garbage

3 Bad

4 Sub Par

5 Average

6 Ok

7 Good

8 Great

9 Excellent

10 A Must See

Masterpiece