Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (2025) review

After finishing up a successful tour for his fifth studio release The River, singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) returns to his native New Jersey where he has regular meetings with his supportive producer Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong), starts a romantic relationship with waitress (and single mom) Faye Romano (Odessa Young) and becomes inspired to record his solo concept album Nebraska (based on spree killers Starkweather and Fugate) on cassette tape with his buddy Mike Batlan (Paul Walter Hauser).  By now, the majority of music fans should be aware that Springsteen is one of the most dynamic live performers in the world but you wouldn't know it by this lethargic biopic in which White spends a sizeable portion of his screen time brooding, scribbling down lyrics on paper and having (black and white) flashbacks to his younger years with his alcoholic dad Douglas (Stephen Graham) and angelic mother Adele (Gaby Hoffmann).  In fact, to cap off his Father Issues, he even sits on his pop's lap at the conclusion to "show" how they've made peace with each other, and has The Boss in therapy because of his struggle with depression.  This was created in good faith, but it fails to say anything informative about the creative process: "art" is once again a "jealous mistress" and being "an artist" sometimes means connecting with one's own despair.