The Bruce Springsteen biopic

 I went to see the Bruce Springsteen : Deliver Me From Nowhere film yesterday, its release day in Great Britain.

I enjoyed it and the time passed very quickly.  

It is probably a film that will disappoint those who go expecting two hours of Springsteen music, flashes of concerts and all good things of his success.  It is not a film about this part of his life although, of course, we are reminded of his great success and popularity and his music. 

I defy anyone who sees it to not sit watching and be taken back to their own childhood, to reflect on whether they had a dysfunctional childhood, to question and to feel a little bit sad here and there even if they conclude that their childhood was good.  I know I sat watching thinking of my childhood and how much later in life I am still affected by it, good and bad, and for many many people really bad demons  can manifest themselves in mental health issues.  This is how it is for Springsteen.

The demons for Springsteen came around regularly.  

The film title comes from the Nebraska album where the lyrics of the songs were him living out his thoughts around his parents and his troubled childhood, things tearing him apart and going through his head.  We see how he was basically a loner and liked to record on a deck straight on to tapes, alone, not in a studio, and the rawness of the end result was how he wanted it to be.  He had some persuading to do to convince his record company to allow this.  He shunned press and tours. 

As I went to an early showing I had my hour in the café with coffee after rather than before.  I chatted to an elderly gentleman, probably about my age in fact, waiting to go into the next showing. He said how much he liked Springsteen and had all his albums and had been a great fan in the day.  He asked if I enjoyed the film and I said very much.  I didn't want to put any colour on the film for the man before he went in so I left it at that but I had a feeling  as he left the café and went into the screening that he was probably going to come out disappointed that it was not two hours of Springsteen wall to wall music and fun.    Jeremy Allen White plays Springsteen and makes a good job of it.   Stephen Graham, known very much now for his part in Adolescence, plays Springsteen's father and gets it spot on.  

All in all, a good film and I will probably go see it again.