Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere Parent Guide

He may have been “born to run” but even Bruce Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) can’t run forever. Having completed a successful tour, the Boss is back in New Jersey determined to decompress and work on his next album. But as he settles back into familiar places, he finds himself fighting to pull away from the ghosts of the past and the darkness they bring.

Set primarily in 1981, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere focuses on the creation of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska album. Haunting, evocative, and deeply personal, Nebraska unsettles Springsteen’s manager and the executives of his record label who deem it uncommercial. In fact, they only support the album because Springsteen records Born in the USA, which is immediately recognized as a massive hit-in-the-making.

Like many musical biopics, this one focuses on an artist’s internal struggles. For the Boss, that includes depression and the emotional legacy of his father, Douglas Springsteen (Stephen Graham), an unstable problem drinker with a tendency to violence. Unlike other biopics, this one doesn’t have a star who drown his sorrows in booze, drugs, or promiscuous sex.

The Bruce Springsteen we see in this film is a surprisingly relatable guy. He feels comfortable in his hometown, dislikes big cities, disappears into songs as he composes them, struggles to maintain relationships, and is pulled apart by his need to have a relationship with the father who caused such pain.

Full credit goes to Jeremy Allen White in bringing this Bruce Springsteen to the screen – it’s a convincing and moving portrait. I also want to give a shout-out to Stephen Graham as Douglas Springsteen, who in his brief scenes gives us a complex, damaged man whose dysfunction doesn’t erase his humanity. Remarkably, this film also provides a manager who is neither manipulative nor predatory: Jon Landau stands out as Jeremy Strong, Bruce’s loyal, supportive manager, a man who is genuinely concerned about his artist’s personal wellbeing, professional satisfaction, and mental health.

The good news continues into the content, which is comparatively low on negative material. There’s a small amount of profanity – in fact, with eighteen swear words this is one of the lightest profanity loads I’ve seen in a while (the two sexual expletives account for the low grade). The film also features implied off-screen domestic violence, brief social drinking, and scenes of a drunk adult who alarms his child. There’s also one sex scene: shot in dim light from the shoulders up, it lacks explicit nudity but the activity is clear.

I have always appreciated the raw honesty of Bruce Springsteen’s work and his empathy for the people about whom he sings. Before watching this film, I had no idea Springsteen has a history of depression. That makes his music even more relatable – and hopeful. As he sings in Atlantic City, “But maybe everything that dies someday comes back”.

About author

Kirsten Hawkes

Kirsten Hawkes has a BA in Political Science and English and has worked in international development and medical education and marketing. Kirsten enjoys reading, watching movies, and debating politics with her husband and sometimes unwilling children.