"It seems that a new rite of passage for millennial leading men is portraying rock icons of their grandfather's-or even great-grandfather's-generation. So to the roster of Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, Austin Butler as Elvis, Taron Egerton as Elton John, and, of course, Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, we must now add Jeremy Allen White in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere."
"But while these other actors are called on to evoke the musical talent and stage charisma of the artists they are portraying through filmic performances of a few greatest hits, the Springsteen film is short on this kind of fan service. There's a bit of White-as-Bruce performing "Born to Run" in an arena, and a storming version of "Born in the U.S.A." shot as a one-take studio recording,"
"This perhaps is just as well, considering that White began taking singing and guitar lessons only six months before shooting started. What White is very good at, though, is portraying a gifted but tormented artist wrestling with self-doubt. Only instead of The Bear's Carmy Berzatto battling depression while sitting in his room scribbling mold-breakingly brilliant recipes, we have Springsteen battling depression while sitting in his room scribbling mold-breakingly brilliant lyrics for his highly personal acoustic album Nebraska."
Jeremy Allen White stars as Bruce Springsteen in a film that prioritizes a single difficult year and creative breakthrough over a conventional greatest-hits biopic. The film offers few full-stage musical set pieces, favoring intimate moments of songwriting and personal turmoil, including a one-take studio recording of "Born in the U.S.A." White prepared musically shortly before shooting and excels at portraying self-doubt and depression. The narrative traces a crossroads after a long tour for The River, examines ambiguous family dynamics including questions about the father, and foregrounds the genesis of the acoustic album Nebraska.
Read at Slate Magazine
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