Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (2025) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

It takes a while to figure things out with our lives, which can become a moment that’s completely worthwhile.


PLOT


Based on Warren Zane’s book of the same name, Deliver me from Nowhere chronicles a period of the life of acclaimed musician Bruce Springsteen. Growing up, he didn’t have a great relationship with his father Douglas who was an alcoholic with mental health issues. It was so bad at one point that he defend his mother Adele from him with a baseball bat. The story’s present begins in 1981 where Bruce reaches the end of The River Tour, and is advised by manager Jon Landau to lie low. He does so in Freehold, New Jersey, near where he grew up. As he buys himself a car and performs locally at the Stone Pony, he would fall in love with a girl he knew in school named Faye Romero. With ‘Hungry Heart’ being his first top ten song, Columbia record executive Al Teller expects a new hit album from him. He prefers trimming studio costs by preparing the demo himself. He gains inspiration when reading Flannery O’Connor books and watching the Terrence Malick film, Badlands, as well as become drawn to the research of spree killer Charles Starkweather. He enlists the help of guitar technician Mike Batlan to turn his bedroom into a makeshift studio, using a four track recorder to create somber songs with a blue collar perspective. As he grows close with Faye and her young daughter Haley, Jon tells him of a potential movie role for Light of Day, but he turns it down to continue focusing on the album. When recording new tracks unaccompanied, he embraces mixing an unvarnished quality. And during production, he gets a call from his mom that Douglas is getting more erratic as part of his diagnosed schizophrenia that he had to find him at a Chinese restaurant. After bringing him back home in California does Bruce work on the album with the E Street Band, where they make many great tracks including ‘Born in the USA’, but he’s not pleased with the overall studio sound. Two straight weeks of recording absorbs him so much that he abandons Faye and considers shelving everything until satisfied. Jon ends up agreeing with him to release the single ‘Nebraska’ unchanged. With older equipment, the studio is able to recapture the sound preserve for the album. Although dismayed by the stylistic departure, Al would respect Bruce’s vision and meet Jon’s request for the album to not be promoted whatsoever as in no press or tour. Before moving to LA does Bruce try to rekindle things with Faye until she tells him he needs to face whatever fears him. Upon reaching his new home does he have a mental breakdown and tell Jon what troubles him. Appropriately, he tells him to seek help and he takes that advice to visits a therapist to let out all his emotions. 10 months later, Bruce resumes touring and gets a visit from his parents where Douglas expresses being proud of him. The film ends in an epilogue revealing that while Bruce continues seeking treatment for depression, the album ‘Nebraska’ reached number three on the charts; All the shelved songs would be included for the following album, ‘Born in the USA’, that launched him to global superstardom.


THOUGHTS


Many musical biopics come and go because they either nail it like Straight Outta Compton or leave us full of conflict like Bohemian Rhapsody. Thankfully, Scott Cooper is able to direct something that is the former as this feature was something that knew how to feel more than that. It was nice to hear ‘Born to Run’ and ‘Born in the USA’ which are tracks meant to be uplifting, hearing ‘Nebraska’ again and witnessing the makings behind it helped me understand the feeling of isolation & alienation Springsteen went through, how the extraordinary can come from desperation. As you can be stunned with Masanobu Takayanagi’s cinematography, you start to get how deep the conflict Bruce was feeling within. That basically says aloud the whole point of the movie where it’s very important to find that solace or you’re never gonna be rid of the demons that trouble you. I didn’t read any of Springsteen’s books nor see past documentaries about him at the time of this biopic’s release, so I had no idea what he was going through until now. Jeremy Allen White was a great choice at playing him because he was just a natural showing off the vulnerability and dedication that has defined him for the better. That said commitment that made ‘Nebraska’ a success was meant to be the voice for individuals which in turn tributes his dad because although Stephen Graham showed Douglas to be one who had his own struggles, he still loved him for doing his best, which is why him sitting on his lap at the end reflected what they got unconditionally. While it was nice to see Paul Walter Hauser portray Baltan as a loyal friend that helped make the sound he was hearing in his friend, Landau was the realest one as Jeremy Strong portrayed as the one willing to make sure it remained as is. The way he talks about the music to his wife was so sweet to see because he wanted to make sure he understood the work before supporting it, which he seemed to do when putting his foot down with Teller. It then goes a long way for him to tell Bruce to seek help because he knows better he doesn’t deserve to feel miserable. Although Faye never existed and Springsteen had two marriages in his lifetime, Odessa Young’s warm & grounded performance reflects how Bruce was told by more than one friend that he needed to seek help. The fact he started making the time after ‘Nebraska’ proved it’s never too late to seek help and there’s no legit deadline to do so; The day you say you’re ready is the day you make yourself proud and that’s what makes life eventful in more ways than one, knowing you’re the one in control instead of those you pressure to be. In short, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is a moving biopic that inspires others to make more time for the needs than the wants and if those are the kind of movies you prefer, check this out when you can.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.