Jeremy Allen White is currently at work on the Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere. We got a look at JAW done up as Bruce last week, but now we’re taking it one step further, as The Boss showed up on set in New Jersey with JAW. These photos are for a very particular type of person, we chose them just for you. Have a great day, I hope this is the distraction you need.
For the rest of us, it’s a reminder that Elvis has cursed us with a slew of music biopics, like everyone forgot Walk Hard and its cautionary tale to Hollywood about music biopics. (Elvis is very “Elvis Presley has to think about his whole life before he goes on stage”.) For me, specifically, it’s also a reminder that I don’t like it when subjects are involved with their biopics. Music biopics are in an especially tough spot, because they need the band/musician to give the film rights to the music, which means engaging in whatever hagiography the musician(s) requires to make that happen. In the case of Bohemian Rhapsody, it was a cruel rewriting of history, basically punishing Freddie Mercury for being queer (and dying).
Bruce Springsteen generally doesn’t seem as bent out of shape as the surviving members of Queen—who seem forever mad that Freddie eclipsed them in cultural cache and collective consciousness—but I have to wonder how soft of a landing Deliver Me From Nowhere will provide for his legacy. Bruce Springsteen is one of the most beloved musicians in America. There’s no way this movie is challenging that.
We're talking about this on The Squawk. (App link here)
