Pop Commentary

Let me start by saying that I’m not a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. I know some of the hits, but definitely not any deep cuts. So, I went into the biopic with very little knowledge about the singer and left with not a lot more.

The new movie “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” chronicles the making of the musician’s 1982 album “Nebraska” when he was on the cusp of superstardom, struggling to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his pasts.

It’s kind of giving “A Complete Unknown,” the Bob Dylan biopic, but this movie seemed more stagnant and boring than that movie.

My biggest issue with “Deliver Me from Nowhere” is that it focuses on one specific time period in Springsteen’s life and I understand that the filmmakers were trying to buck the typical biopic stereotypes by doing that, but there just wasn’t enough to focus on during those years to make it interesting.

I wish they would have focused more on how the music he was making made him a superstar and showed that transition. They cut the story right before anything interesting happened with his career.

Instead, the movie focused on internal demons and that just isn’t as interesting to watch on screen as opposed to external conflicts like fights with band mates for example.

I also thought that Springsteen’s depressive episode towards the end of the film kind of came out of nowhere. Like they hinted at him not being happy in several scenes, but then he had a breakdown that didn’t feel earned.

As for the good parts of the movie, I did think Jeremy Allen White did a good job playing Springsteen. I just wish he was given more to do, script-wise. And, I thought Jeremy Strong delivered a great performance as his manager.

I don’t want it to sound like I hated this movie. I actually enjoyed the first half of the film, especially when we learned about his childhood and his creative process. I just wish the story focused more on his bigger successes later in his career.

Overall, I’d say the film is worth watching if you’re a fan of Springsteen or Jeremy Allen White. Otherwise, you could probably skip it because it’s pretty boring.

If you’ve seen “Deliver Me from Nowhere,” let me know what you thought in the comments and subscribe to Pop Commentary for more film and TV reviews and news!