The Big Picture

‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ and the ‘Music Biopic’ Mount Rushmore

October 24, 2025

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • The consensus among the hosts on *The Big Picture* is that the film *Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere* is overwhelmingly unsuccessful because it fails to establish compelling dramatic stakes or effectively communicate the artist's inner workings, despite the compelling source material. 
  • The discussion on music biopics reveals a tension between films that celebrate artistic achievement (like *Complete Unknown*) and those that focus on the artist's personal struggles, with the latter often proving boring for art if the artist has achieved self-understanding through therapy. 
  • The hosts identified the moments where Jeremy Allen White performed Springsteen's music, such as the studio rendition of "Born in the USA," as the few cinematic highlights, though they felt these moments were used cruelly by withholding payoff. 
  • Mary Bronstein's film, *If I Had Legs I'd Kick You*, is described as an astonishingly good, harrowingly intimate exploration of the existential dread and loss of self experienced during intense caretaking, particularly motherhood. 
  • Bronstein intentionally wrote the screenplay for *If I Had Legs I'd Kick You* as a director's script, including specific visual language and conceptual choices like not showing the daughter's face, to ensure the audience remained focused on the mother's subjective, often uncomfortable, reality. 

Segments

Initial Reactions to Springsteen Film
Copied to clipboard!
(00:00:09)
  • Key Takeaway: Yasi Salek offered a reluctant compliment to Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere by noting the filmmakers attempted an ‘artsy’ approach with black and white cinematography, even if it was ineffective.
  • Summary: The hosts introduced the film, which covers the making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska album, based on Warren Zanes’ 2023 nonfiction book. Jeremy Allen White stars as Springsteen, with Jeremy Strong and Paul Walter Hauser also appearing. Yasi Salek initially struggled to find a compliment for the film, settling on acknowledging the attempt at an artistic visual style.
Critique of Narrative and Clichés
Copied to clipboard!
(00:05:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Amanda Dobbins found Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere to be silly and cliché-ridden, feeling it inadvertently remade the clichés previously seen in Walkhard.
  • Summary: The general sentiment was that the film lacked dramatic stakes and felt like a collection of generic scenes, such as characters looking out at lakes or driving aimlessly. The film was criticized for failing to develop the character’s motivation for the radical artistic shift to Nebraska. The inclusion of Flannery O’Connor and Badlands as inspirations was noted as being too literal and uncinematic.
Artistic Intent vs. Audience Experience
Copied to clipboard!
(00:07:46)
  • Key Takeaway: Chris Ryan argued that a movie about a musician’s mythology should always have potential, suggesting Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere left crucial narrative elements from the source book on the table.
  • Summary: The film’s focus on Springsteen’s depression and familial issues was contrasted with the book’s thesis about the revolutionary nature of choosing to make Nebraska amidst rising stardom. Specific details from the book, such as Springsteen living with his grandparents or the specter of his deceased aunt, were noted as missed opportunities for deeper storytelling.
Performance and Cinematic Moments
Copied to clipboard!
(00:11:07)
  • Key Takeaway: The most effective moments in the film were the live performance sequences, specifically when Jeremy Allen White played “Born to Run” with the E Street Band and “Born in the USA” in the studio.
  • Summary: While Jeremy Allen White was praised for his convincing impersonation of Springsteen on stage, the film was criticized for punishing the audience by showing glimpses of potential greatness without earning the payoff. The scene where “Born in the USA” is played in the studio felt like an act of cruelty because the audience was denied the full experience of that iconic song.
Therapy Culture and Artistic Tension
Copied to clipboard!
(00:24:58)
  • Key Takeaway: The hosts concluded that while therapy is beneficial for the artist, the explicit naming and dealing with trauma, as suggested by the film’s focus, is ultimately ‘bad for art’ because it removes necessary tension.
  • Summary: The film was characterized as having a ’therapy 1.0 quality’ by explicitly naming depression and trauma, which obviates the artistic tension that fuels compelling work. The narrative relied heavily on exposition, such as John Landau explaining the album’s significance to his wife, which felt overly explanatory.
Music Biopic Favorites and Flops
Copied to clipboard!
(00:42:31)
  • Key Takeaway: The best music biopics, like Coal Miner’s Daughter and Love & Mercy, succeed by portraying real conflict or offering unpredictable narrative structures, unlike the predictable arc of Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.
  • Summary: Yasi Salek nominated 24 Hour Party People as an essential music film, while Amanda Dobbins favored Coal Miner’s Daughter for its documentary-like realism from director Michael Apted. Love & Mercy was praised for showing two distinct periods of Brian Wilson’s life and the satisfying depiction of creating ‘Good Vibrations.’ The hosts expressed dread over potential, conventional biopics about The Beatles or The Beastie Boys.
Box Office and Awards Potential
Copied to clipboard!
(00:35:22)
  • Key Takeaway: The film is projected to earn only $10 to $12 million at the box office, suggesting that its primary justification for existence might have been an Academy Award nomination for Jeremy Allen White.
  • Summary: The poor box office projection contrasts with the success of other recent music biopics that rely on popular, singalong songs. The hosts noted that the Best Actor race is crowded, making it difficult for Allen White’s performance to secure a nomination without significant box office traction.
Music Biopic Fears and Nirvana
Copied to clipboard!
(00:52:39)
  • Key Takeaway: The potential for a Beastie Boys biopic is feared due to the charismatic nature of the three members, while a Taylor Swift biopic is deemed culturally unsustainable.
  • Summary: The speakers expressed strong reservations about a Beastie Boys biopic, viewing it as a potential American equivalent to ‘The Beatles’ nightmare’ because of the three charismatic leads. A Taylor Swift biopic was also deemed something society ‘cannot live through.’ The conversation briefly pivoted to Nirvana’s current cultural relevance, with one speaker suggesting the band remains ‘frozen in the amber of coolness’ because grunge is still a reference point for contemporary cool.
Transition to Mary Bronstein Film
Copied to clipboard!
(01:01:48)
  • Key Takeaway: The hosts pivot to discussing Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, praising it as potentially the best movie of the year.
  • Summary: Following the music biopic segment, the hosts briefly transition to covering Mary Bronstein’s new film, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. They immediately signal high praise for the movie, with one host jokingly calling it the ‘best movie of the year.’ This segment sets up the subsequent in-depth interview with the director.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You Review
Copied to clipboard!
(01:02:04)
  • Key Takeaway: The film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is an astonishingly good, harrowingly intimate work focusing on the experience of a mother caring for a daughter with a physical ailment.
  • Summary: The film is noted for its extremely intimate, claustrophobic cinematography, often focusing tightly on the mother’s face as she navigates caretaking alone. The movie powerfully explores the theme of the alienation of motherhood and the societal failure to support caretakers, exemplified by a specific detail of the mother eating pizza cheese amidst rising anxiety. The performance by Rose Byrne and the writing are highlighted as amazing, leading to intense emotional reactions from the viewers.
Bronstein on Film Genesis and Urgency
Copied to clipboard!
(01:08:46)
  • Key Takeaway: Mary Bronstein began writing If I Had Legs I’d Kick You out of existential dread while caretaking, realizing she was disappearing into the role and needed to reclaim her identity as a filmmaker.
  • Summary: Bronstein started writing the script on a hotel bathroom floor while caring for her daughter, driven by a feeling of existential dread about losing her own identity. She felt an urgent need to make the film to assert her identity as a screenwriter and filmmaker, which saved her during that difficult period. She honed the script over two years, facing rejection from those who found it too risky commercially, until A24 agreed to make it with ’no notes on the script.'
Visual Language and Performance Choices
Copied to clipboard!
(01:18:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Bronstein wrote the screenplay as a director’s script, embedding all visual language, including extreme close-ups and sound design, directly into the text to communicate the story’s conceptual core.
  • Summary: The script was written visually, intended to be read as the movie itself, which helped secure trust from partners and the lead actress. Rose Byrne was chosen for her rare combination of comedic timing and technical acting skill, allowing her to navigate the script’s difficult tonal shifts between serious and funny moments. The film is emotionally true, abstracting Bronstein’s personal terror into a fictional narrative designed to be an empathy test for the audience.
Motherhood Taboos and Audience Reaction
Copied to clipboard!
(01:31:36)
  • Key Takeaway: The film subverts the taboo against mothers expressing negative feelings toward their children by immersing the audience entirely in the mother’s reality, forcing viewers to grapple with uncomfortable truths about caretaking.
  • Summary: Bronstein believes that if a character offends the viewer, the viewer should examine their own reaction, as film is meant to be an empathy test reflecting real-life complexities. The movie addresses the cultural dismissal of motherhood, where feelings of being overwhelmed are often relegated to jokes like ‘mommy juice.’ By not showing the daughter, the film ensures the audience remains focused on the mother’s perspective, where the child is perceived as an oppressor, preventing automatic sympathy for the child.
Daughter’s Knowledge and Film’s Ending
Copied to clipboard!
(01:39:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Bronstein’s daughter has not seen the film and does not intend to, as the story focuses on the mother’s trauma, not the daughter’s experience.
  • Summary: The daughter knows the film is inspired by their shared experience but understands it is a story about the mother’s feelings and trauma, not her own story. The conceptual choice to never show the daughter was made to keep the focus radically on the mother’s internal state and avoid complicating audience sympathy. The film’s ending, which involves the character confronting her trauma, is unknown to the daughter.
Last Great Thing Seen
Copied to clipboard!
(01:45:12)
  • Key Takeaway: Mary Bronstein recently re-watched Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and confirmed its status as a masterpiece of performance-driven chamber drama.
  • Summary: Bronstein avoided new media while creating her film but found that re-watching Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? confirmed its power as a chamber piece driven entirely by performance. She noted that the film’s confrontation of discomfort is similar to the emotional intensity in her own work. She views great references as those that become part of the filmmaker’s DNA subconsciously, rather than explicit homages.