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To be from New Jersey means to know Bruce Springsteen. Ask almost anyone from the garden state and they will have their own Springsteen story. Perhaps it is the first time they heard him or saw him live or even how they are close personal friends with him, (a common Jersey exaggeration), but what makes all these stories fascinating is they are a sector of time in between someone’s entire life. Even for the biggest Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band fan, being a fan is only a part of their lives that can add up to a whole but still needs an entire foundation to make one individual. And yet often times it can feel like one’s fascination with Springsteen is their entire identity. SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE follows these rules as well, directed by Scott Cooper, the film is a blimp in Springsteen’s life that also manages to be an encapsulation of everything that makes up the Boss. Taking on a time in his life where he secluded himself from the fame and success in search of something honest it is an observation of a man who has always sought out to do this in nearly every faction of his life. It is also just an old bar song, much like the songs off a Springsteen album, DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE can feel indebted to a musical genius (because it is), but it is also just another Jersey tale that you overhear at a local diner. In writing this review as a fellow New Jerseyian it felt comical in trying to avoid inserting my own fascination with an idol as well as my hometown, but the film always felt welcoming in allowing both to exist even in a critical examination of a film that both feels like a good friend and an otherworldly talent. Cooper, with his best film to date, doesn’t just adapt the book of the same name by Warren Zanes he allows it to become the same old west tale that the album Nebraska formulated. Both Cooper and Springsteen, in two very different careers both in success and length, still hold that same belief that a lost soul has the most to tell. DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE doesn’t just live up to its promise in showing a side of Springsteen maybe unfamiliar to some but also displays a film that perfectly magnifies the truthfulness that has always followed a musical genius even in times of great uncertainty and pain. A film that knows that while solitude can create something everlasting it can also destroy us forever so sometimes the bad must die and even if “everything that dies someday comes back,” when it does return we hope and pray the support and music will be stronger than ever.

Bruce Springsteen is tired. 1981 and the now famous River Tour is coming to an end in Cincinnati. The River Tour accompanying the album of the same name skyrocketed Springsteen and the E Street band into household name with songs like “Hungry Heart” becoming an anthem for young love hungry teens. The tour and album also allowed Springsteen’s previous four albums to gain attention. In other words Springsteen became an icon of the time and people seemed to give a shit about a small Jersey shore town named Asbury Park. But while it is energetic to see Springsteen portrayed by a terrific Jeremy Allen White on stage belting out “Born to Run,” the moment we see Allen White off the stage we instantly can feel the pain. Drenched in sweat, harsh rasp in his voice and most importantly alone. While it is an image seen in countless musician biopics something early on becomes clear, White is not attempting an impression here. No the groggy deep throated voice of Bruce and pretty boy mannerisms of a man who never hit a hammer to a nail in his entire life may still be there but more importantly what Jeremy Allen White captures immediately is the frustration that Springsteen already had on the cusp of gigantic success. His manager and producer Jon Landau (Jeremy Strong) clocks this without hesitation. If there is one big love story of the film it is the love Landua and Springsteen share for one another growing beyond client and manager. Landau suggests getting away something Springsteen takes without thinking. Retreating to a ranch rental in Colts Neck New Jersey it is here where Cooper sets the stage for Springsteen and his film to find the greatest inspiration in the artists next creation, an album that will redefine the pain Springsteen grew up with and still carries today.

For those unfamiliar with the Nebraska album the easiest way to describe its off the beaten path decision is to imagine Sabrina Carpenter announcing tomorrow that her next album will be a concept album of folk songs dissecting the pain and anger that arose from her watching “Sound of Metal” or some other emo film. Maybe today it would be more accepted or less seen as a breakdown but in 1981 after your biggest album not wanting to deliver the hits right after was career suicide. For Springsteen it was a necessary. The film is never meant to be a beat for beat retelling and in fact it works almost tirelessly to avoid biopic tropes (and in doing so falls into its own) but what DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE greatly succeeds is always being as vulnerable and honest as it believes itself to be, and like Springsteen itself that honesty is more apparent than most. However for diehard Springsteen (and more so Nebraska) fans fear not as many of your favorite behind the scenes moments do arise. Whether it be Springsteen catching “Badlands” on tv one night or him being a lifelong fan of the punk band Suicide. Hell even Paul Schrader’s Born in the U.S.A. script gets several name drops but the electrifying image of the Boss is appropriately turned down. Cooper even with his own fasciation of Bruce decides to strip down his film of most flash and even when delivering more energetic moments always instills a fraction of pain. The set design is bleak at times and the camera always focused on Allen White’s eyes that are constantly wandering the screen looking for something to hold his attention. Jeremiah Fraites’ twang score allows even the most metropolitan set scenes feel like they are in the middle of America in the wide open fields. All this is there to accompany White and Strong as the story unfolds not just the making of Nebraska but also instill the isolation Springsteen actively sought out. This isn’t the biopic of vices that destroy an artist, in fact Springsteen an avid drug avoider remains extraneously calm throughout causing you to always feel on edge waiting for that final shoe to drop. This tension is far more engaging than any wall punching or sink destroying segments.

It is this calmness that also allows Springsteen to find himself trying to move forward while still always being locked down to the past. Odessa Young portraying a young local single mom gives Springsteen a sense of hope for his future and while the woman in question is a amalgamation of several women during this time (before Springsteen met and settled down with his now wife Patti Scalfa) Young is an engaging counterpart to White’s stillness. The film does find itself in familiar territory bringing itself back to flashbacks of Springsteen’s childhood (now portrayed by a young Matthew Anthony Pellicano Jr.) where his alcoholic and abusive father Douglas (Stephen Graham) battles both his own demons and his family (including Gaby Hoffman as Adel Springsteen Bruce’s mother). Even in these more caricature moments the film moves away from just past trauma makes good future music and instead observes patiently the pain of Douglas through both his own addiction as well as mental health issues that were never discussed in the 60’s. It allows the film to find its later footing in moments involving Springsteen’s anger as well as love for his own father, a man he sees that tried his best fighting his own battles.

But even with all the weight on top of Springsteen, Cooper as a director also emphasizes that while Bruce may feel alone, the support system is larger than most musicians receive. Jeremy Strong as Landau is not just the friend everyone deserves it is also an example of Cooper’s script always trying to enforce that Springsteen put out the kindness of his heart so it made sense for him to receive it back from others. Nebraska on paper is a marketing nightmare, no singles, no touring, no press and Springsteen’s own damn face won’t even be on the cover. But what DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE does with such heartwarming delight is show the belief others hand in Springsteen even if they did not fully understand the process or emotions behind it. This is not to say the film dives in the overtly sentimental in fact many moments are left quite cold in the best terms, but the film and especially Strong as Landau always displays the belief that their friend is in pain and this album and hopefully my guidance can help them. Copper a director who has never shied from the heartache may tone down the tragedies of “Out of the Furnace” but still manages to heighten the truthfulness that is a silent depression. Gone is the big band recording (for now) and instead is just a man in his home singing and desperate to make sure the sounds and stories he has created remain intact. The film much like the real life situation finds humor in trying to get others on board to something that isn’t “Hungry Heart.” But amongst this humor and fears of a career taking a giant risk is compassion.

While Springsteen himself does not receive a producers credit you can feel both his approval and letting go of the reigns throughout. This is not the authorized Springsteen film where every inch is edited for a musicians approval but instead an open book that says rip out whatever page you don’t like but be sure to never break the spine. Perhaps it is the Jersey boy in Springsteen that allows Cooper’s script to be as vulnerable as it is. The promise of surprising even the most avid Springsteen fan is certainly given at times, and no matter what any fan says, nobody knew the whole story even if they claimed to once have shared a drink at the Stone Pony with Bruce. It helps too that White is able to portray Springsteen as both a proud member and tourist in his own town. Several shots of Asbury Park and the once alive carousel brighten Springsteen’s face and still White holds a sense of unfamiliarity now looking at his hometown with the face of someone who cannot go down the street without people shouting his name or music. As a proud New Jerseyian seeing Asbury and especially the Convention Hall and Stone Pony lit up with such urgency felt refreshing, but it also enforced the idea that to many this place has become mecca while for others it is just their town or their daily commute. And like Springsteen and the film some of it may feel groundbreaking while to others so familiar that they could write the story themselves. This is not a negative but in fact a beautiful and fully understanding depiction from Cooper that seems to believe and understand New Jersey in the same factor that he now knows Bruce better than ever. DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE isn’t flash until it needs to be and isn’t a breakdown until it needs to be. Instead it is a process of a new sound that needs patience and understanding. A sound that needs to get out not to silence the noise but allow the music to never stop.

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SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE SCREENED AS THE SPOTLIGHT GALA AT THE NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL NOW IN ITS 63rd YEAR. THE FILM WILL BE RELEASED IN THEATERS BY DISNEY & 21st CENTURY FOX ON OCTOBER 24