Yesterday, my wife and I saw the new movie about Bruce Springsteen. It was very good, but not what we expected. It focuses on his battling depression while he writes and self-records demos of several songs which would make up his Nebraska and Born in the USA albums.
Per an AI search summary, “Jeremy Allen White plays Bruce Springsteen, with a supporting cast including Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, and Odessa Young.” The movie is based on the book of the same name by Warren Zanes.
White does a terrific job of capturing Springsteen’s angst. Yet, what we enjoyed the most are the conversations between White and Strong who plays Springsteen’s agent, producer and friend. What also added value is Strong’s conversations with his wife played by Grace Gummer about his friend’s challenges.
Other key moments are about Bruce’s girlfriend Faye played by Odessa Young. She is a composite character representing various girlfriends that Springsteen felt guilty about not loving in the way he needed to love her. She and her daughter charm Bruce, but she eventually agrees that he needs to go away if he cannot risk loving her. My wife was metaphorically high-fiving the character.
The other key scenes involve look back and current scenes with his father played by Graham who was a depressed, drunken bully to Bruce and his mother. He loved his father, but was scared of him.
The music focuses on Springsteen searching for thematic meaningful songs like the title song “Nebraska.” He actually uses his self-recording from his bedroom on the master. Interestingly, he delayed his hugely successful album “Born in the USA” to release the more sober album “Nebraska.” The band plays a much lesser role in the movie, which is interesting as he and his band are iconic. Yet, there are glimpses of good music scenes.
It is worth seeing. But, I hope I managed your expectations .
musingsofanoldfart 