Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere review solid biopic both embraces and avoids cliche

"The genre of the musical biopic is one that, as Timothee Chalamet acknowledged while accepting a Sag award for playing Bob Dylan earlier this year, could be perhaps tired. The beats of the genre the initial obstacles, the double-edged sword of success, the actors' pursuit of industry awards for spirited impersonation are by now so familiar that you're almost expected to enter with more than a bit of skepticism, even when the artist at hand is one as widely beloved as Bruce Springsteen."

"Like A Complete Unknown, in which Chalamet portrayed Dylan from 1961 until his pivot to electric in 1965, Deliver Me from Nowhere, Springsteen's authorized biopic starring Jeremy Allen White, tries to thread a difficult needle between offering the standard treats and subverting expectations, between narrativizing genius and resisting hagiography. This may be an impossible task, given that the magic and cliches of popular music often go hand in hand,"

"and Deliver Me from Nowhere certainly has its spoof-worthy moments. I went in braced for success montages, leaden flashbacks and capital-R Realizations, and at times met them. (Though to be clear, the expected treat of watching White, of the Bear and Calvin Klein underwear ad fame, tear up the stage as The Boss is still exactly that.) But more often I was won over by its diversions in form its specificities, its smallness and its portrait of mental fragility. That's"

Deliver Me from Nowhere concentrates on Bruce Springsteen's return to New Jersey in 1981 after touring The River, portraying a superstar on the brink of fame but burned out. The film narrows its scope to the early-30s moment when youthful excuses fade and personal demons surface. The narrative balances expected genre elements—montages, flashbacks, performative triumphs—with formal diversions, emphasis on specificity, and a portrait of mental fragility. Jeremy Allen White performs as Springsteen, and the story foregrounds pressure from record executives alongside the emotional and creative toll of fame.

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