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| Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen in 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.' Courtesy of 20th Century Studios. |
In another 20th Century Studios musical biopic drama, Jeremy Allen White took the lead as New Jersey's Bruce Springsteen in 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.' It seemed similar to other biopics such as the ones about Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, with a hint of Bart Millard, but it's the passion and characterization in White's portrayal accompanied by a colorful characters and powerful heartland rock songs that made it a great film in its own right. And it makes me want to listen The Boss a bit more.
'Springsteen' switches between the late 50s and early 1980s, chronicling Bruce's overcoming childhood trauma from his abusive father, played by Stephen Graham, and creating his Nebraska album. There's also the matter of his burgeoning romantic relationship with single mother Faye Romano, played by Odessa Young.
White did a pretty good job portraying Bruce Springsteen. Despite his character's trauma, he showed a kind country man that cares more about telling the truth of the heart than selling a fancy record. What I loved was how he reminded me that celebrities are human beings with demons to conquer rather than just these "high and mighty" pop culture icons. Aside from a little help with the actual Springsteen when recording "Born in the USA," he did a good job carrying some of his own tunes in songs such as "Born to Run", "Mansion on the Hill" or "Nebraska" You also got to enjoy the cute chemistry he built with Young's character of Faye when they did things like sneaking into a carousel in Asbury Park.
Going back to Young's performance as Faye Romano, you'll appreciate her strong single parenting and moral compass playing a foil to the reserved Springsteen. Spoiler alert, they don't stay together towards the end, but at least she was part of the people who pushed Bruce to get back up again with his depression battle. On the bright side, she resembled Reneé Rapp from the Mean Girls musical.
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| Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen (left) and Odessa Young as Faye Romano (right) from 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.' Courtesy of 20th Century Studios. |
Stephen Graham as Bruce's father Douglas looked like Tony Soprano, and his dynamic with his son was one thing that made the film home-hitting for me. It hit home because my own dad had some emotional problems-though not the kind Douglas had- that I learned and still learn to forgive. Watching Douglas ask Bruce to sit on his lap and the two embracing each other could bring up some emotions.
Sadly, some of Bruce's depression in the movie translated to some erratic behavior as he was writing and mixing the songs for Nebraska. That's one case where the biopic stood out was he wasn't not one of those rockers that turned to drugs and womanizing to cope with his troubles, but wanted badly to tell the story of his life the right way in his music.
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| A scene from 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.' Courtesy of 20th Century Studios. |
There were also some good writings courtesy of director Scott Cooper, such as Bruce saying "I want to find some real in all the noise" or his wanting to "burn it down" when talking about his recording of Nebraska.
In conclusion, I give 'Springsteen' a 7.5/10. It was too similar to other biopics of this type, but it had good-hearted characterization and music, good piano scoring by Jeremiah Fraites, good writing, good editing, and good displays of the Garden State to make it worth the while.
Check out 'Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere," starring Jeremy Allen White, in theaters now. Rated PG-13.
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