To be considered a truly great male musician… you need a movie made after you!  That’s not necessarily true but it feels that way given the recent abundance of biopics greenlit by Hollywood studios.  In the past decade, we’ve delved into the lives of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis Presley in Elvis, Elton John in Rocketman, Bob Marley in Bob Marley: One Love, Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, and a bunch of gifted rappers in Straight Outta Compton.

The next cab off the rank is Bruce Springsteen who has entrusted his story to writer-director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Black Mass).  Springsteen has released 21 studio albums, he’s won 20 Grammy Awards, he’s sold over 140 million records, and he’s performed live on thousands of occasions across the world including 44 times in Australia.  There’s too much to cover a single movie and so Cooper sagely keeps the focus narrow.  Drawing from a book authored by Warren Zanes, he scrutinizes the creation of his 6^th album, “Nebraska”, in 1982.

Sadly, the finished product is a disappointment.  It’s like someone swimming in a lake who is afraid what they might see if putting their head underwater.  Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere provides only a “surface level” look of the acclaimed artist, and there’s a surprisingly lack of drama and tension.  Depression was a big motivator for the album (nothing wrong with that) but we struggle to grasp why he’s so forlorn.  The film can’t find a way to take his tortured psyche and effectively visualise it on screen.

Staggered flashbacks from his childhood, headlined by his alcoholic father (Graham), are not woven together in a way which provides fulfilling insight.  An on-again, off-again romantic relationship with a single mum (Odessa), a fictional composite of several real-life people, amounts to nothing.  When Springsteen finally harnesses the courage to speak with a professional psychologist, the camera fades away.  Why not let us hear the conversation and understand what he’s bottled-up for so long?

The movie will still have fans.  Springsteen lovers should enjoy the title performance of Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) and the behind-the-scenes insight into how he created songs including “Born in the U.S.A”.  We also see his obsession with using non-studio technology in creating an album with a gritty, authentic feel.  This includes debates with his manager (Strong) and lead sound engineer (Hauser) who provide careful feedback but know Bruce always makes the final decision.  I need to ask though – why cast the amazing Tony Award winning actress Jane Houdyshell and use her as a glorified extra?

The music of Bruce Springsteen is powerful, memorable and iconic.  Regrettably, the same adjectives cannot be used to describe this movie.  A wasted opportunity.