SPILL FILM REVIEW: SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE

SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE

20th CENTURY STUDIOS

OCTOBER 24, 2025

There’s something very appealing about the core philosophies that are guiding the narrative beats and character expressions of Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. Screenplay collaborator Warren Zanes and himself clearly want to hone a narrative focal point upon topics related to Springsteen’s upbringing, and the lifelong trauma that inspired him to require the record to sound so specific. However, more often than not, the story tends to tread water within stereotypical plot lines and poorly written characters. It’s a story as old as time when it comes to musical autobiographies and autobiographical adaptations, one that Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story attempted to warn mainstream audiences of in 2007: a 2-hour long film cannot support itself off of the legend of a true story, it needs to translate that context to the screen and involve the audience within its subject matter.

Slathered in black and white flashback imagery and outbursts of emotional confusion on behalf of the main character, Cooper almost appears determined to hit all the familiar notes of the genre. Some of these attempts almost appear earnest, as Jeremy Allen White does play a genuine and mildly transformative version of Bruce Springsteen, a version who’s able to make some of the film’s more excessive moments play to a somewhat engaging level. However, a great majority of that effort is in vain when the execution of events is so familiar that the film feels more akin to a spoof sketch on autobiographical tales than anything else. Jeremy Strong has a decent amount of screentime as Springsteen’s manager, Jon Landau, and the greatest moments tend to come from when he’s sharing screentime with White. The pair of esteemed actors possesses a palpable chemistry that radiates through the screen and captivates audiences when they are together. All of these gorgeous performances create a yearning sensation that leaves the viewer wanting to see these people explored in a more thorough and nuanced manner. Cooper’s brand of no-frills, thousand-miles-a-minute direction has lent itself tremendously to some of his past films (Black Mass and Antlers immediately come to mind). Still, the narrative presented on behalf of Springsteen’s life requires nuance beyond the capacity of blatant colour grading as metaphor and trauma motif techniques.

It’s a tough ratio to find a perfect balance between. On one hand, you have multiple incredibly established and talented performers operating in an enthusiastic and sincere capacity in regard to the source material. Then, on the other hand, you have a screenplay that doesn’t dive beyond the accoutrements of what you’d likely find on a Wikipedia entry regarding Springsteen’s life/career, and a sense of direction that feels more like autopilot than guided and precise. At the end of the day, it’s clear that the entirety of Cooper’s cast and crew (himself included) cared deeply about the life and legacy of Bruce Springsteen. It’s just unfortunate that love doesn’t translate into a cohesive and consistent film when all is said and done.

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