"Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is one of those movies where every scene has one clear and explicit purpose. (It is the antithesis of last year's stellar Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown.) The artist's impulse to be true to himself in the face of the pressures and expectations of success is joylessly stated and restated. More interesting, but more difficult to dramatize and potentially fraught with cliché, is the idea of going back - geographically and temporally - in order to go forward."
"In this context I note that Springsteen meets a woman. Their relationship consumes a fair amount of screen time yet adds shockingly little to the movie. Faye (Odessa Young) has a blue-collar job while Springsteen is inevitably on another trajectory. Perhaps he's attracted to the familiar - he grew up on the same streets as Faye - but his identity and his place in the world is shifting."
Springsteen records new material alone in his bedroom on a four-track, lo-fi Teac cassette deck, seeking an Elvis Sun Sessions echo. The film presents each scene with a clear, explicit purpose and repeatedly asserts the artist's impulse to stay true amid success's pressures. The portrayal of a return—geographical and temporal—as a route forward is emphasized. A romantic subplot with Faye consumes screen time but contributes little to character or narrative. The screenplay barely addresses money and class, the lead communicates best through pen and guitar, and the performance fails to convey Springsteen's internal feelings.
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