Bruce Springsteen's journey crafting his 1982 album Nebraska, which emerged as he recorded Born in the USA with the E Street Band. Based on Warren Zanes' book. (from IMDB)

Although I've been running a music site for almost thirty years now, you may be surprised to know I don't typically care for musical biopics or musicals in general. But sometimes a title slides (proverbially) across my desk and I figure I'd just check it out. Sure, I'd heard of Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, but nothing about it really interested me. Surprisingly enough, I found it to be a sweet surprise that was well worth the watch.

When you think of musical biopics, you generally assume they'll have lots of live concert reenactment performances and no shortage of musical montages. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere isn't really that kind of movie. If anything, it hones in on a very specific time in Bruce Springsteen's life - particularly the time period in which he wrote and recorded his 1982 album, Nebraska. Now, full disclosure here: as a child of the 80's, I am familiar with Springsteen's radio hits of the time, but I haven't followed his career at all, and I never really had interest enough to dig into his catalog on my own time, so pretty much all of the events of Deliver Me From Nowhere was news to me. All this to say -- I'm approaching this movie as a story and a piece of history, not as a Springsteen fan.

The film is based on a book by the same name, written by Warren Zanes, which was dedicated to the creation of the Nebraska album. Zanes worked with director Scott Cooper to make the story translate to film, and the pair even worked closely with Springsteen himself to make sure the story stayed genuine. What I found most interesting about the story, too, is how deeply personal it feels for Springsteen. Jeremy Allen White plays the man as a quiet character, wrestling with his past and inner demons, while trying to create something artistic and very personal. While so many stories like these focus on the artist's struggle with drugs, for Bruce it was more or less his own personal worth. We see some scenes intercut into the story of Bruce as an 8-year-old boy, dealing with an abusive, alcoholic father. By the time we see him in his early 30's in the early 80's, he's seen success with his 1980 album, The River, but he's struggling with his own loneliness and solitude - even though some of it he inflicted on himself. White plays Springsteen with humility and as kind of a victim of his own behavior. The film uses a love interest name Faye to represent (according to what I read online) a blend of a couple different love interests in his life in order tell that intimate part of his story. He's never really presented as a hero in the film, either (more so some of those around him that truly believed in him, like his manager Jon Landau) - and you can't help but get frustrated with how he treats Faye in the long run. The film keeps the story deeply human, and before long, it's made clear that Springsteen is being dragged down by depression, and it's affecting every area of his life.

One of the most appealing things about Deliver Me From Nowhere, to me, is Springsteen's artistic journey and how it all works with, and relates to, the music industry. Bruce wants to be as honest as he can with his music, even getting fixated on a very specific sound for the recordings -- to the point where it wouldn't make sense from a marketing standpoint. Being involved with JFH for as long as I have, I've seen behind the curtain of the music industry quite a bit, and I've heard stories about record labels forcing artists to throw their work out and start over. At one point in the film, an industry exec says he wants to tell Springsteen to take his songs back and come back to him when he's written a hit. I've heard of almost the exact same kind of thing coming out of the Christian music industry. It's just part of the money machine that drives the music world. It's sad since it forces artists to not be true to their art, but it also makes perfect sense from the marketing angle; it's the classic dilemma of needing your work to be what people actually want in order for it to sell, so the labels that invest in you can make their money back (and preferably more). Deliver Me From Nowhere ends up being a really good, really real look into how that works. Sometimes labels are wrong, too, as shown with the success of Nebraska, but sometimes they also really do have a good idea what is going to work or not.

Content-wise, Deliver Me From Nowhere is firmly PG-13. There are two audible uses of the "F" word, as well as some blasphemy and a handful of other colorful words, but it isn't constant. The story also illustrates how Bruce's father is an abusive alcoholic, and we see him getting rather rough with little 8-year-old Bruce at times. (Side note: I really enjoyed the fact the flashback scenes to his childhood were presented in black-and-white. It was a nice touch.) There's also a love scene between Faye and Bruce, where he kisses her passionately, carries her to the bed and then the scene cuts to them in the middle of the act. The camera stays zoomed in on their head and shoulders with no nudity, but there's visible, obvious movement with him on top of her, which makes it anything but subtle. It then cuts to them in bed after, with the sheet pulled up, but they lie there talking a bit. (Honestly, seeing them in the act adds nothing to the movie; it's unfortunate it was included.)

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere isn't your typical musical biopic, so if you're not usually a fan of them - like me - this one may be right up your alley. It's more about the human story and drama than performances and the musical legacy of an artist. Sure, the film celebrates how beloved Bruce is as a singer/songwriter, but it also doesn't shy away from showing his flaws and focusing on his struggles and shortcomings. I'm sure fans of The Boss will especially enjoy the film, but those who just love music, songwriting, and want to see a little more behind the curtain of how the music industry can be (at least, how it was in the early 80's), Deliver Me From Nowhere is worth checking out.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is available now at digital retailers (and is a Movies Anywhere-compatible title). The movie looked fantastic in digital 4K, too. It comes with a half-hour making-of featurette that's divided into four "Acts":

The Liner Notes: Making Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (34:18) [Play All]

1. Act 1: From Book to Screen (9:08) - The first Act is about the challenges of putting the book on film. Director Scott Cooper talks about getting Bruce's permission and working closely together with Bruce and Jon Landau.
2. Act 2: Beyond the Music (6:04) is about Bruce's father and the story of the film. They also talk about the recording of the Nebraska demos.
3. Act 3: Becoming Bruce Springsteen (9:35) - Bruce learned about Jeremy Allen White from watching The Bear, and Bruce approved the casting of him for the film. Jeremy learned guitar just for this movie and sung all the songs himself (1 "Oh my G-d").
4. Act 4: Deep Authenticity (9:39) is about shooting on location in New Jersey, where Bruce grew up. Because the carousel in Asbury Park was gone, they reconstructed it just for the film, along with the arcade as well (and we see the real Bruce on set, enjoying the games). For the live shows at the Stone Pony, they restored parts of the real Stone Pony back to how it looked in the 80s, and really filmed there.