Another year, another blockbusting biopic, and 2025’s version of it highlights “The Boss,” New Jersey’s very own Bruce Springsteen. The “music-meets-movie” genre is notorious for its films being a hit or a miss, so the big question is, which one is “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere”? Going into it, there was some hope that it would be quite good. Would it continue the trend of the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” from last year, or revert back to the slop that was the “Bohemian Rhapsody” film and that garish Elvis movie. For what it is worth, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” is not a terrible movie, but by no means is it outstanding, and it does fall short in several categories — music, luckily, is not one of them.

Going into the movie, there were a couple things I knew to expect. One was that the score was going to be a knockout, with much of it, as expected, being headed by The Boss himself. So, it is safe to say that if you are a fan of his music, you are gonna have a rockin’ time watching the movie. The second thing I knew was that Jeremy Allen White starring as Bruce Springsteen was going to be a great decision, right up there with Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” Having already watched all of “Shameless” and “The Bear,” two of White’s prior acting endeavors, I knew that White was one of those actors who channels his emotions in such a raw and visceral way, you can almost feel him through the screen.

Specific moments, void of word or sound, where you are forced to sit with the character and feel for what the character is going through — White understands how to deliver these moments perfectly. That level of acting and empathy is so hard to accomplish nowadays, but he does so with ease that the audience is pulled magnetically into the big screen.

The obvious low-hanging fruit is that “Oh, White does not really look like Springsteen,” but resemblance is not necessarily critical. If “Bohemian Rhapsody” did one thing right, it was casting Gwilym Lee as Brian May, as they look freakishly similar, but he does not really elevate his character or do anything.

I would argue, however, that White does look like Springsteen. There are certain points in the movie where White is on stage strumming away on that iconic Fender Telecaster and belting out classic Springsteen lyrics. That is all that is needed to look like Bruce Springsteen. And those are some of the best scenes, too. Ones where the audience just gets to sit and enjoy the music. After all, it is a film about music, so it is not too much of a surprise that it was well done on all counts. One scene in particular where White is recording the song “Nebraska” is so beautiful to watch; seeing that entire process unfold is well shot and paced, and the tone and setting fits the song’s lyrics and themes very well.

Moving on from the lead role, Jeremy Strong plays Springsteen’s producer Jon Landau and, as is typical for Strong, he knocked it out of the park. His quiet and deliberate approach to acting played well with White’s more aggressive presence and balanced out a lot of the scenes with them together. They effectively pair on screen, and it is a shame they are not together on screen more often.

Far and away, the movie’s biggest flaw has to be the writing and pacing, with there being so many unnecessary scenes and misplaced moments. Past the halfway point of the film, there are two scenes where Strong’s character and his wife deliberate about Springsteen, and it is a glorified exposition dump. For those two scenes, the audience is being talked down to, and everything that could have easily been inferred is just lazily thrown in front of you. It is poor writing, and slows the story down for no good reason. If you completely remove those two scenes, the movie is the exact same story, and you understand it on the exact same level. The scenes involving Springsteen’s childhood can also sometimes feel a little out of place. Overall, they are fantastically done, and deeply emotional. The scenes between Springsteen and his father can be a real tear-jerker, but at times they will almost interrupt a scene to flashback to his childhood. While they are good in a vacuum, they can sometimes come out of nowhere, and break up the action of what was going on in Springsteen’s present life.

While “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” offers great acting from the lead White, supporting members such as the aforementioned Strong and others like Odessa Young and Stephen Graham, the film is held back by its blasé writing and sometimes sluggish pace.

Is it worth going to see? For a Springsteen fan — yes, absolutely. It is so easy to look past those small flaws and enjoy seeing your favorite musician represented on the silver screen rock out for 2 hours. That is why overall, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” yields three stars out of five from me.