Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is a film that does not have as important a reason for existing as it seems to believe. Jeremy Allen White, superb as a tormented chef on The Bear, is here too often relegated to walking away from the camera while wearing a familiar leather jacket. His brilliant blue eyes, which convey so much in his other work, are here covered by brown contacts. Jeremy Strong as Springsteen’s manager, is the only character with any genuine vitality, in a performance that could have veered into cliché.
Courtesy 20th Century Studios
The film, shot in IMAX, does not reveal a single reason for being shot with those cameras, because there are no real sweeping vistas nor do the concert scenes have a vitality that calls for such treatment. Instead, we keep seeing Bruce revisit the same grimy local club, over and over and over. This, of course, is to hit us over the head with how he is afraid of moving forward and how he feels secure in a past that has traumatized him. This is a film that could give lessons on “The Obvious” in cinema. At a two-hour run time, this is also a film that borders on the ponderous, in places, stretching moments that should have been instants and filling space with shots that add nothing to atmosphere or our understanding of character.
It is not entirely without merit. As mentioned, Strong gives a fine turn as Jon Landau, Springsteen’s longtime manager, friend and sometimes producer. Landau is shown to be entirely in Springsteen’s corner, and the person who “blocks out all the noise” so that his client can focus exclusively on creating the art that he wants to make. It would not surprise this viewer to see Strong once again nominated for an Oscar, as he brings some of the only real energy to any of the performances. Strong creates, through vocal inflection and the way he carries himself, an intense yet sympathetic figure who is devoted to making his client’s dream come true.
Courtesy 20th Century Studios
David Krumholtz, as Al Teller, an executive at Columbia records, gets a nice scene where he is baffled by the “folk” sound Springsteen has offered up for his newest album. His search, desperately, for a hit on the album, might mirror a viewers search, equally as desperate, for a reason to care, beyond basic human empathy. We are given two or three important scenes with Springsteen’s father, yet had Stephen Graham not been the one cast in the role, it is possible the weak writing would have let the film down entirely in these key moments.
The film is technically proficient and features a fine cast doing solid to excellent work but it is a film that, as Roger Ebert once remarked happens to far too many films: it has geometry without any chemistry. The dialogue, especially between Springsteen and his love interest, is stilted and overwrought. Every emotional beat is telegraphed or otherwise expected. It is a film that wants to be important and yet fails at simply being so because of its great desire. A focus on story and character, rather than style and moments, might have served this one far more.
Courtesy 20th Century Studios
A late in the film road trip becomes an opportunity for exploration of theme but consists :::SPOILERS::: mainly of more closeups, a quick admission of someone else having been correct, and a few awkward hallucinations. :::END SPOILERS::: We get no real sense of who Springsteen is, before plunging into this period where he is supposedly “now in a very dark place” and it is a shame because some counterbalance would have worked wonders. This is a soggy script and overwrought direction that sinks a brilliant cast and potentially engaging story, because the themes are very worthy, even if the presentation is not. A handful of outstanding moments keep this one from sinking further but cannot elevate it beyond passable.
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is now playing in theaters.
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