Every man becomes his \u00adfather, even international chart icons. For some, the transition is \u00adgradual and gentle; for others, the changeover takes a while to get your head around. <\/p>\n
In Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, filmmaker Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace) paints a fragile, \u00adfatalistic portrait of America\u2019s greatest rock star at the peak of his \u00adcreative powers.<\/p>\n
In 1981, the man they call \u2018The Boss\u2019 was on fire. His third \u00adalbum, Born to Run, had put him on the map; his fourth and fifth, \u00adDarkness on the Edge of Town and The \u00adRiver, helped Springsteen and The E Street Band to sell out arenas. Then came the tiredness, the \u00adstillness and, eventually, the \u00adsolitary confinement.<\/p>\n
Locked away at his rented home in Colts Neck, New Jersey, Springsteen started to confront his demons. He thought of his father, Douglas, a depressed bus driver from Freehold, who drank too much and blamed others for his vicious temper.<\/p>\n
Bruce read stories by Flannery O\u2019Connor and watched films by Terrence Malick and John Huston. He wrote songs about himself and his dad, about outlaws and criminals and gutsy working-class heroes. Armed with a guitar and a four-track unit, Springsteen made an album (1982\u2019s Nebraska), in his bedroom, and it went on to change his life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jeremy Allen White avoids impersonation. Photo: 20th Century Studios<\/p>\n
A heavier film than you might expect, Deliver Me from Nowhere \u2013 a little like its weary central \u00adwarrior \u2013 works up a different kind of sweat and captures this pivotal artistic breakthrough as best as anyone could hope for.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t Springsteen\u2019s life on screen; it is, instead, a single chapter, a glimpse inside the mind of a creator at war with himself.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a film about depression and about what happens when adulthood creeps on you.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a story about learning to live with yourself and your flaws. It is, at its core, the tragic, timeless tale of a son doing everything he can to sidestep the mistakes of his \u00adfather. That\u2019s relatable.<\/p>\n
Fully authorised by Springsteen himself, who visited the set and provided notes, Deliver Me from Nowhere is based on a 2023 book by Warren Zanes. It\u2019s an admirable adaptation that sometimes goes out of its way to avoid the usual cliches and pitfalls of the typical big-screen rock flick. But it also wants to be one.<\/p>\n
There are glimpses of a noisier, flashier film here. Somewhere in the middle, Jeremy Allen White\u2019s Springsteen records a barnstorming first take of Born in the USA with his boys (cue lots of comical \u201cthis will be huge\u2019\u201d expressions behind the production desk).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jeremy Allen White and Odessa Young. Photo: 20th Century Studios<\/p>\n
Joyous, energetic concert \u00adsequences are sprinkled throughout the drama and Deliver Me from Nowhere also comes with a greasy, greedy label boss (David Krumholtz, enjoying himself).<\/p>\n
How do these opposing \u00adelements co-exist? Not without the occasional wobble and there are cracks, too, in the fictional romance.<\/p>\n
Cooper\u2019s film imagines a doomed love affair between Springsteen and a charming \u00addiner worker named Faye (Odessa Young). We cannot fault Young\u2019s performance, but this part of the story is sketchy and perfunctory. We get it: the gloom Springsteen inherited from his old man gets in the way of true love.<\/p>\n
But it might have been better to further examine the fractious \u00adfather-son dynamic at the heart of this complicated tale and to give the tremendous Stephen Graham (portraying the old man, Douglas) a chance to do what he does best: act. Graham, however, is often banished to the corner, which is a shame. Naturally, all eyes are on our two leads.<\/p>\n
You won\u2019t ever forget you\u2019re watching Jeremy Strong. Mix up the hair, change the outfit, do whatever you like, but Strong always brings that same level of concentrated intensity to the table. His Jon Landau (Springsteen\u2019s manager and pal) is a very serious chap, indeed. But he\u2019s a good friend to have around.<\/p>\n
As Springsteen, White avoids the temptation to impersonate and focuses instead on the heart and humanity behind the legend.<\/p>\n
Think Carmy from The Bear, minus the profanity and arrogance. The voice is in terrific shape, too, and you\u2019d watch this fella make music all day.<\/p>\n
A challenging film, but I look forward to a repeat viewing.<\/p>\n
3.5 stars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every man becomes his \u00adfather, even international chart icons. For some, the transition is \u00adgradual and gentle; for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[15248,434,18,117,19,17,23942],"class_list":{"0":"post-139757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-bruce-springsteen","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-people-culture-magazine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115421640869677722","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}