A Rock Icon's Human Story ("Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere" Review)

 Back in 1985 a song featuring an all star group of singers and musicians came out in support of hunger relief in Ethiopia. It was called "We Are The World," produced by the late, great Quincy Jones. It was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. I was a massive fan of Michael Jackson, and he was riding high from his blockbuster album "Thriller." But this was my first time seeing another music titan. My first time seeing and hearing Bruce Springsteen. I was a bit thrown back by his aggressive style but of course thought he was super cool. Later on in my teen years I became more aware of his musical achievements through classic rock radio, though in the '80's you couldn't get away from "Born In The U.S.A." It was as big a hit as you can get in the '80's, and the '80's was the pinnacle of popular music.

So seeing a preview of the new film "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere," I was jazzed! The past couple of years had delivered some great rock biopics (2018's "Bohemian Rhapsody," 2015's "Straight Outta Compton," and the Elton John biopic 2019's "Rocketman.") so this was a Day 1 for me.

The film begins with a prologue showing Springsteen in his youth, his long suffering mother, and his drunken father. Later on through the film you end up seeing how cold, distant, and abusive his father is and how it ends up affecting him during 1981 as he wraps up his tour. Springsteen (played by the wonderful Jeremy Allen White) begins writing for an upcoming album and he records these songs at home on a four track demo recorder. As he goes into the studio to record professional versions of these songs, he can't get past how hauntingly perfect the demo recordings are and presses his record company to put out those demos as his new album. While all of this is happening he meets a woman named Faye and becomes close to her and her daughter, though his mental struggles affect the relationship as well.

This is a surprisingly effective film dealing with mental health and that's what I wasn't expecting. After the short black and white prologue, they break out into "Born To Run" in concert and this was fantastic. But it doesn't end up being a traditional musical biopic. It deals with demons. And the courage to seek help.

What I loved most about this film was the creation of the "Nebraska" album storyline. The modern day music industry is in shambles and there's no record company that will go to bat for their artists like they did back in those days (maybe with Taylor Swift as an exception). I loved seeing Springsteen's manager Jon Landau (played by the great Jeremy Strong) fight for Springsteen to get his way and release an un-promoted demo out as an official album release. Back in the days of classic rock and pop, there would be pushback but ultimately artists would get a shot at their artistic vision. That's what made music truly great. If only the music industry would do this again instead of worrying about the money alone. Nurturing your artist. If you do this, they will most likely put out surprising and spectacular results...