Jeremy Allen White in “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.”
20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, starring Jeremy Allen White as rock icon Bruce Springsteen, is new in theaters this weekend. What are Rotten Tomatoes critics saying about the music biopic?
Written and directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Black Mass) and based on Warren Zanes’ book of the same name, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere plays in Thursday previews before it opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.
The official summary for the film reads, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere chronicles the making of Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 Nebraska album when he was a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggling to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.
“Recorded on a 4-track recorder in Springsteen’s New Jersey bedroom, the album marked a pivotal time in his life and is considered one of his most enduring works — a raw, haunted acoustic record populated by lost souls searching for a reason to believe.”
Rated PG-13, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere also stars Jeremy Strong as The Boss’ long-time confidant and manager, Jon Landau, Paul Walter Hauser as guitar tech Mike Batlan, Stephen Graham as Springsteen’s father, Doug, Odessa Young as Springsteen’s love interest, Faye, and Gaby Hoffman as Springsteen’s mom, Adele.
As of Wednesday, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere has earned a 65% “fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 84 reviews. RT’s Critics Consensus, Popcornmeter score based on verified user ratings and audience summary are still pending.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’?
Jordan King of Empire Magazine is among the top critics on RT who gives Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere a “fresh” review on RT, writing, “Driven by a boss Jeremy Allen White performance, Scott Cooper’s Bruce Springsteen biopic — just like its subject — finds its true voice once it stops trying to play the hits.”
David Fear of Rolling Stone also gives the music biopic a “fresh” review on RT, writing, “Despite the movie’s flaws, what [Scott] Cooper has given audiences here is way more compelling than a live-action greatest-hits compilation.”
Also giving Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere a “fresh” review is Mark Kennedy of The Associated Press, who writes on RT, “In many ways, this movie is, then, a mirror of Nebraska itself — unexpected, complicated and very American gothic.”
Among the top critics on RT who give Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere a “rotten” review is Bob Strauss of the San Francisco Chronicle who calls the film “an endless mope, occasionally interrupted by artistic breakthroughs and [Bruce] Springsteen’s stubborn insistence on maintaining his new work’s purity against pressure from all sides to strike while his commercial potential is hot.”
Odie Henderson of the Boston Globe also gives the film a “rotten” review on RT, writing, “From the start of [Scott] Cooper’s screenplay, the clichés get ticked off like clockwork, which is a shame because there’s an interesting movie trapped inside this one.”
Kevin Maher of The Times (UK) isn’t a fan of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, either, writing on RT, “In the end, it’s only essential viewing for Springsteen completists. They can loudly chant “Broooooooooose!” all through the film. Probably better that way.”
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere plays in Thursday previews before opening Friday in theaters nationwide.
