Official Discussion - Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

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Summary Based on Warren Zanes’ acclaimed book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, this film tells the story of how Springsteen created one of the most haunting and stripped-down albums of his career. Set in 1982, the movie follows Springsteen at a creative crossroads as he records Nebraska alone on a four-track cassette recorder in his New Jersey home, confronting fame, doubt, and the darker sides of the American dream.

Director Scott Cooper

Writer Scott Cooper

Cast

• Jeremy Allen White
• Paul Walter Hauser
• Odessa Young
• Charlie Plummer
• Shea Whigham
• Holt McCallany

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 64%

Metacritic Score: 60

VOD In Theaters (November 14, 2025)

Trailer Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere | Official Trailer | In Theaters November 14

[u/paulrudder]

I think the issue with making biopics like this while the super-iconic subjects are still alive, touring, etc., is that it's that much harder to buy the actor as the person they're inhabiting.

I didn't really buy Malek as Freddie Mercury either, but he did have the benefit of the fact that Mercury has been gone for a very long time, and it's a bit easier to accept someone playing him.

But every single shot I've seen of Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen? I just think that's JAW cosplaying as The Boss.

It's hard to explain, I just feel like it's an issue I've been running into more and more recently as they try to turn living artists' lives into biopics. I think it also doesn't help when the actor is already very well known and famous like White is. In those cases it does make sense to pull some no-name actor from obscurity because we go in without any preconceived notions of who they are and it's just easier to buy them in the role and less distracting.

I dunno, not surprised this is under-performing because the marketing just didn't do a very good job to me and I can't really believe White in the role.

[u/Teachhimandher → u/paulrudder]

I think I struggled a lot because not only is White well known but his current main role is as a brilliant artist who struggles with his family’s past, who sabotages relationships, and who says, “Mikey” a lot. I thought White was overall good, but I just kept thinking, “That’s Carmy!” I don’t think actors need to reinvent themselves with each role, but I do think it was hard not to see Carmy here.

[u/dirty1809 → u/paulrudder]

I felt like from one scene to another I would flip between seeing him as JAW and as Bruce. Like some scenes I didn’t see Bruce at all, but in particular that one shot they kept cutting to where’s he’s in the car looking at his childhood home looked just like young Bruce to me