In his 500-page memoir, “Born to Run,” Bruce Springsteen spends less than three pages on the making of his 1982 album “Nebraska.” Moving on, folks, nothing to see here, he seems to be saying.
The first authorized biopic of his life — “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” — disagrees, the Boss was dealing with inner turmoil during its recording and then comes out with a sweet, gentle portrait of an icon by a soulful Jeremy Allen White.
With heavily-lidded eyes and a head tilted almost at an angle, White gives us a dystopian Springsteen, wide open in ecstasy when playing live, but shrouded in his leather jacket when wandering the streets. He sucks on his harmonica as if it can relieve him of pain. To be honest, White still hasn’t gotten over his bad habit. He is the chairman of the Tortured Poets Department.
The anti-commercial “Nebraska” is not the first album you might think of when you imagine important Springsteen albums. “Born to Run” was produced on the verge of being dropped by Columbia Records. “Born in the USA” turned him into a global superstar.
The film’s director and screenwriter Scott Cooper considers “Nebraska” to be more enlightening, nestled between those albums. It sounded like it had been painstakingly drawn through Springsteen and stored on a rudimentary four-track cassette recorder in a rented house in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Springsteen wanted it to be released as is, with flaws and mistakes intact.
“Nebraska” may be a masterpiece, but it’s not an easy listen, it’s full of broken and desperate people, murderers, heavy drinkers, prisoners and people pushed to the edge by poverty and despair. “Definitely not ‘Hungry Heart,'” says the technical expert who helped record it.
“It’s not about capturing sounds, but about capturing ideas,” Springsteen tells his manager, Jon Landau, lovingly played by “Succession” star Jeremy Strong. “I’m just trying to find something real in all this noise.”
This Landau, who quotes Flannery O’Connor and praises Sam Cooke, is almost saintly in his devotion to Springsteen, even if he’s not sure where the songs are coming from. We all need someone like Landau – someone who constantly encourages, creates creative space for his client, and beats the case.
Records officials, naturally, are surprised by “Nebraska”, calling it a “highly unconventional career move”. They want radio hits, not acoustic doodles of criminals. “It sounds like an accident. It sounds incomplete,” declared record head Al Taylor.
The film – based on a book by Warren Zanes and featuring a blend of White and Springsteen’s vocals – is a meditation on creativity battling commercialism, the longing to escape home, and the inescapable pull of family. “I’m lost here. I’m buried here,” Springsteen laments.
However, the script goes back in time to show scenes from Bruce’s early life in the weeks during the production of “Nebraska”. The drive to his old house conjures up black-and-white memories of Springsteen’s father being violent and drunk. Their complex relationship is handled thoughtfully.
As if that’s not enough, Springsteen’s love life is explored through a composite character, Faye, a single mother and waitress who falls in love with an unsupportive boy during this time of settling down. Odessa Young is stunning – half tough Jersey girl, half melting when the boss stops by. “I know you’re scared,” she tells him.
There are also special moments for true Springsteen fans, like the time when a young Bruce visits a beautiful old house, which would surely have been the inspiration for “Mansion on a Hill”. Or that moment when Springsteen changed “he” to “I” while editing his “Nebraska” song.
The film ends, quite boldly, with a call for Springsteen to seek mental health help, which he does. We soon realize that what we have been watching for two hours is the gradual breakdown of a man, not the veil that most superstar biopics reveal. In many ways, this film mirrors “Nebraska” – unpredictable, complex and very American Gothic.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures’ release “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” which opens in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for thematic content, some sexuality, strong language and smoking. Running time: 117 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.
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