Biographical dramas walk a very thin line between an authentic portrait and crude propaganda. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025) strives to get closer to reality. Scott Cooper’s film takes an intimate look at one of the most legendary figures in music: Bruce Springsteen. Without attempting to cover Springsteen’s entire life, the movie focuses on a specific period and one of the most important moments in the songwriter’s career.

The greatest strength of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is also its main weakness. The screenplay by Scott Cooper and Warren Zanes succeeds in placing us right at the moment when Bruce Springsteen, impeccably portrayed by Jeremy Allen White, locked himself away in a house in Colts Neck, New Jersey, to compose and record what would later become his album Nebraska. The story gains power from the intensity of that moment in the artist’s life. We feel his trauma, watch him battle depression, and understand the dark side of fame. But by limiting itself to this single chapter of such an enormous figure, the film ultimately feels flat and small.

Of course, music plays a decisive role, and Springsteen’s iconic songs become a character in their own right. But what truly elevates the film is watching Jeremy Allen White inhabit the role and deliver a remarkable performance. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere travels along familiar paths; its narrative rhythm clings to clichés, and even when the film dares to show the most somber side of a star of Springsteen’s stature, it feels too restrained, too eager to please.

In terms of staging, cinematography, editing, and production design, the film flows smoothly without major missteps. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is an effective film, but one that ultimately fails to transcend.