For the last few years, movie fans have been pummeled with rock and roll biopics, some better than others. We’ve had Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, A Complete Unknown…and now, we have Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.
Make no mistake, though; Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is no Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, or A Complete Unknown.
Instead of being a full-story biopic, Deliver Me from Nowhere focuses on a very specific time in Bruce Springsteen’s life—the conception and recording of the Nebraska record. The movie starts in 1981 with Bruce (Jeremy Allen White from The Iron Claw, The Bear) wrapping up his successful tour in support of The River. He’s one of the biggest rock stars in the world, but in wondering what he’s going to do next, he stumbles across Terrence Malick’s Badlands on television and gets inspired to write his most introspective and honest album yet.
Except, it’s unlistenable. With the help of a loyal engineer named Mike (Paul Walter Hauser, who was Mole Man in The Fantastic Four: First Steps) and a four-track cassette machine, Bruce lays down guitar-and-harmonica, Dylan-esque folk song after folk song. And when he and The E Street Band try to turn it into a Springsteen record, Bruce is unhappy with it. So, with the help of his manager, Jonny Landau (Succession’s Jeremy Strong), he fights with his record company over releasing the record mastered from his original four-track bedroom tape.
The portrayal of Bruce’s artistic struggle in Deliver Me from Nowhere is admirable. As Springsteen fans know, Bruce followed up Nebraska with his monster hit Born in the U.S.A. The songs for both were written and demoed at the same time, and Bruce stood firm on releasing Nebraska first, and releasing it the way he wanted, even doubling down by refusing to do any promotion at all for the record and not even putting his face on the cover. Of course, Bruce and Jonny knew that they had a number one album in the bank, so the gambit paid off in the end—Bruce got his passion project, and the record company got their album full of hit singles. The hits just came a year later.
Writer-director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) based his screenplay for Deliver Me from Nowhere on the 2023 book of the same name by Warren Zanes (who—fun fact—was a member of The Del Fuegos). And, while the movie is wildly unfocused, the parts about the making of Nebraska are actually very interesting. Watching White as Bruce channel his angst and misdirection into an artistic vision that he is unwilling to compromise is nothing short of compelling.
It’s when it meanders away from this subplot that Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere loses its way. See, the movie also features threads about Bruce and a love interest named Faye (Odessa Young from Assassination Nation) as well as more than a handful of flashback sequences of the star dealing with his unsettled feelings towards his parents, particularly his father (Dad Springsteen is played by Adolescence’s Stephen Graham while Mom is Now and Then’s Gaby Hoffman). And this is where all of the film’s momentum is lost.
Deliver Me from Nowhere is long and slow—and at about two hours, it’s not even that long. Unfortunately, the movie slides away from the engaging music stuff to subject the viewer to the everyday life stuff. Which does make sense, since the movie is first and foremost about Bruce’s struggle with mental health and secondarily about the music. But man, the music sections are so good, the audience just wants to go right back to them when the other stuff is going on. The romantic angle is very forced, and the parental issues are very typical. Oh, but the music…
So, what we have with Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is a portrait of a troubled musician in which the music takes the lead. Which is great, but it seems as if Cooper wants to make a different movie, one about a man instead of a musician. But the music is all the audience cares about.
It’s worth noting that, although Bruce is the main character, the real hero of Deliver Me from Nowhere is Jonny Landau. He’s more than just Bruce’s manager; he’s his friend and confidant. And he will do anything—anything—to help Bruce in his times of struggle, whether it’s going to bat for him with the company or talking him off the ledge when he’s stepped out onto it. Of course, Bruce is a meal ticket to Jonny, but Jonny never treats him that way. He truly cares. Everyone should have a friend like Jonny Landau in their life.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere isn’t the music biopic that people may be expecting. The story behind Nebraska is fascinating, and it coincides with a dark period in Springsteen’s life, but Cooper only succeeds in telling the musical portion of it. The rest is all filler, and filler that everyone has seen before. Aside from the music, it’s kind of a dud.
Oh, but the music…
GRADE: C-
Rating: PG-13 for some sexuality, smoking, strong language, and thematic material
Running Time: 2 hours
Release Date: October 24, 2025
This post was last modified on October 22, 2025 3:08 pm