NEW YORK (OSV News) – A surprisingly substantive film, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” (20th Century) is more a psychological study than a musical biography. As such, it invites those older viewers for whom it’s appropriate to engage with its sometimes troubling story intellectually and emotionally rather than be passively entertained.
Jeremy Allen White plays the famed songwriter, musician and singer of the title. Following the success of his tour in support of his 1980 LP “The River,” Springsteen ponders his next move.
He begins to live a semi-reclusive life in a rented house in his native New Jersey. There he reflects on his past, especially the physical abuse he suffered in childhood at the hands of his unstable father, Douglas (Stephen Graham).
Springsteen also comes under the influence of Catholic Southern Gothic author Flannery O’Connor, whose posthumously published collection “The Complete Stories” he’s shown re-reading. Chancing across auteur Terrence Malick’s 1973 drama “Badlands” on TV, he begins researching the late-1950s murder spree on which that movie is loosely based.
Amid this atmosphere, using primitive equipment and performing on his own, Springsteen records the series of songs that would ultimately be released on his idiosyncratic 1982 album “Nebraska.” What follows is a relentless struggle to preserve the integrity of this project, which has deep personal resonance but seemingly little commercial appeal.
In this artistic battle, Springsteen is resolutely supported by his longtime manager and friend, Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong). On the personal side, meanwhile, despite his isolation, the performer embarks on a romance with divorced mom Faye Romano (Odessa Young). Yet he hesitates to commit to this relationship.
Themes of family reconciliation and forgiveness, especially as conveyed in a moving wrap-up, will appeal to grown moviegoers. But, along with the grim topics of maltreatment and mental illness, a bedroom scene and some gritty dialogue make writer-director Scott Cooper’s adaptation of Warren Zanes’ 2023 book an inappropriate choice for youngsters.
The film contains mature subject matter, semi-graphic nonmarital sexual activity, a few uses of profanity, at least one instance each of milder swearing and rough language, several crude terms and a couple of crass expressions. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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