Review By Angelique Jurd (angeliquejurd.com)
Director: Scott Cooper
Based on: Deliver Me From Nowhere by Warren Zanes
Cast: Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham,
Odessa Young, Gaby Hoffman, Marc Maron.
Running Time: 119 minutes
NZ Distribution: Event Cinemas, Silky Otter
When I was a 12 year old girl living on a farm in the back of Taneatua there was very
little to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon once chores and homework had been
finished. It wasn’t exactly Little House on the Prairie territory, but it was some 47
years ago now so there were no streaming services, no Kindles, and no cell phones.
As it happens, my family didn’t have a television either. No, I didn’t have to walk five
miles to school in the snow – I sat in a bus for over an hour each way. I had farm
chores – I fed pigs and cleaned their sty, fed chickens, mowed lawns, moved calves
and the house cow – well you get the idea. And Sunday afternoons, I holed up in my
bedroom with any homework that wasn’t finished or a library book and my beloved
radio. The point of me telling you this is so you get an idea of who I was when one
wet Sunday afternoon I heard Kasey Kasem announce a new song from Bruce
Springsteen. I was twelve, people, I had no clue who or what Springsteen was. By
the end of the first verse of Sherry Darlin’ I had put down my copy of The Shining
(yes, that Shining and yes, I was a precocious reader – nothing else to do, remember)
and was hooked. That weekend I discovered King and Springsteen and both have
remained my favourite writers since. I became a writer because of them.
All of this to say that the story behind Deliver Me From Nowhere was nothing new to
me. Nebraska became one of my favourite Springsteen albums the moment I heard
it. Recorded on a 4-track in his bedroom in New Jersey after the success of the tour
accompanying The River, Nebraska is a pared back collection of songs dealing with
despair, grief, loneliness – and all that fills the human mind and heart in our darkest
moments.
Springsteen was in fact in the midst of a significant mental health crisis and has
admitted to having thoughts of suicide during the time it took to create the album. An
album that, it should be noted, nobody but Springsteen himself wanted.
Jeremy Allen White delivers an extraordinary performance. While he got some of the
more obvious things right – the way Springsteen speaks, the way he walks, and
interestingly enough the way he stands at the microphone – it’s the less obvious
things that provide the impact. Springsteen is known for being intense – he delivers
shows that can last up to four hours (even now at 76), writes songs the way other people write shopping lists, is well read, and doesn’t just keep the company of (past)
Presidents, he writes books with them*. White captures that intensity of being, along
with the sense of isolation, confusion, and vulnerability that are evident in the album
itself.
Of course we can’t ignore the singing. White, it turns out, performed the songs
himself. I can honestly say hand on heart, there was more than one occasion when
had I not known that fact, I would have sworn they had dubbed in Springsteen’s
trademark gravelly voice.
Jeremy Strong’s portrayal of Jon Landau, the former Time Magazine journalist turned
manager who once famously proclaimed to have seen the future of rock and roll and
it’s name was Bruce Springteen, is equally as strong. He is convincing as a man
caught in a moment where all he can do is stand and watch what may be a
monumental breakdown while trying to do his best to offer support. For me though,
there is one scene in particular featuring the two that stands out. They are simply
sitting at Springsteen’s, knees touching and Springsteen places his hand over
Landaus. In a world where toxic masculinity sometimes feels more like an
expectation than a norm, this display of platonic, male care is very powerful.
Director Scott Cooper has coaxed brilliant performances from everyone in the cast,
leaning on the music and the man with both reverence and respect. I could have
personally lived without the romantic subplot even if I do understand why it was
developed. The character Fay is an amalgamation of several women from that time
in Springsteen’s life and while Odessa Young delivers a noteworthy and respectful
performance, the movie would not have lost anything without it.
For those who don’t know, the title track Nebraska is in fact the story of 19 year old
Charles Starkweather and his teenage girlfriend Caril Anne and their killing spree.
Sung from the point of view of Starkweather as he is on the point of execution, it’s a
dark, haunting and deeply resonant piece of work, heavily influenced by writers like
Flannery O’Connor.
Am I biased? Well, I have several Springsteen themed tattoos so I guess we can
confirm I am. That said this movie is one of the best musical biopics I’ve ever seen
and this is not just because of the work of a talented director. It is in fact the
combination of highly talented actors whose commitment to film making is matched
only by Springsteen’s work ethics.
Story: 5/5 Plot: 4/5 Acting: 5/5 Effects 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
*Springsteen co-wrote Renegades with former President Barack Obama
I bought my own tickets to Deliver Me from Nowhere.
