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.

Rock biopics have been ten a penny recently and Bruce Springsteen is the latest star to get the biopic treatment, in the rather clumsily titled ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’. Directed by Scott Cooper, whose previous works included ‘Crazy Heart’, it stars Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen and hones in on a period in his career in the early 80s when he was at a bit of a crossroads, on the brink of fame but resistant to it at the same time, leading to the album ‘Nebraska’ which was quite a departure from the trajectory he was on at the time.

I must confess my expectations weren’t too high for this film, having seen a series of negative or average reviews, so I was surprised that I really liked it. ‘Nebraska’ isn’t an album Springsteen is best known for (nor is it one of my favourites), and I can see why seeing him sitting in his bedroom creating low key acoustic songs might not be everyone’s idea of entertainment, but I got a kick out of it. In general, I like films that show the process of creating music (‘Love & Mercy’ about Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys a standout in this regard), although it is worth stating where ‘Pet Sounds’ was complex, ‘Nebraska’ was as sparse as it comes in terms of its production.

Besides the album creation process, the film touches on Springsteen’s relationship with his manager and mentor Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong, not playing a D for once), an on-off romantic tryst (with Faye, a character played by Odessa Young), his relationship with his father (Stephen Graham), and his struggles with depression that underpin all of these other elements. In terms of his career, he’s at a place where he’s had a few commercial hits (‘Born to Run’, ‘Hungry Heart’) and he has some of the tracks that will make up his biggest album ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ on the shelf, including the title track, but mentally he’s not ready for what may come next and the film follows him as he retreats to his bedroom to create what would become ‘Nebraska’. A folk album wasn’t what the record company wanted or expected, but ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’ does to a degree glaze over what I expect must have been more heated discussions about what Springsteen released next.

I liked ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’, particularly the focus on this specific period of time which for me, produced richer results than I expect we’d have got from a film covering a wider timeframe or honing in on the height of his fame. It’s a little low key and understated and I can see why it won’t resonate with everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Scott Cooper

Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, Odessa Young, Gaby Hoffmann, Marc Maron and David Krumholtz

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt31923069/