Written by a good friend (a Los Angeles-based attorney) whom I’ve known since the early ’80s….
“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere has a lot going for it. It bothered me but in a good way.
“It bothered me to see Springsteen struggling with memories of family dysfunction. The brooding, deeply bruising alcoholic father (Stephen Graham) whose downcast moods seemed to define the household…little Bruce quietly observing and fearing this seething dog of a dad. But after coming off the road and a triumphant tour supporting The River, he seemed barely functional in his personal life. A composite version of a New Jersey girlfriend’s frustrated yearning for a serious relationship with the elusive rock star is a classic example of seeking someone who is obviously unavailable. He isn’t overtly cruel or philandering, just mostly missing in action.
“The muse of music constantly beckons. Springsteen putting together what would become Nebraska in his safe-space bedroom. Jamming with his friends at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park. The sometimes uncomfortable sessions with his musical team struggling to transfer the sound of his home recordings to something that can be commercially released. It shows in miniature the misgivings of the record label and even perhaps his manager, Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong), with this unexpected and seemingly ill-timed musical direction, emerging at a moment when global stardom was in reach if Springsteen would just write some hit songs.
“The tunes that would comprise Born In The USA were mostly in the can but would have to wait a while. The dark themes of Nebraska had to come first as Springsteen needed to exorcise his childhood demons, etc.
“We live in a cynical time. An earnest film about a rock star’s struggles with depression and the release of an acclaimed-but-long-ago album may not resonate all that widely or deeply in 2025. There is also an incongruity in the wide release of a $55 million dollar film where the principals did significant publicity in the service of memorializing a small record by a musician whose mantra for it at the time was: no press, no singles and no tour. Perhaps the movie should have been downsized and followed those instincts.
“Then again, there’s a big difference between releasing a movie into today’s over-saturated media world and releasing a record in 1982 which would get attention just because of the name of the artist and his place in the zeitgeist at that time. We all waited impatiently back then for every new Springsteen record. Bruce’s big era lasted from the ‘mid 70s to the early aughts, and that’s fine. Nearly 30 years. Leave it there. Feel good about that.”