Podcast Summary: The Big Picture

Episode: ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ and the ‘Music Biopic’ Mount Rushmore
Date: October 24, 2025
Hosts: Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins
Guests: Chris Ryan (CR), Yossi Salik
Special Interview: Mary Bronstein
Main Topics: Review of "Deliver Me From Nowhere" (Springsteen biopic), music biopic discourse, Mount Rushmore of music biopics, parenthood/motherhood in cinema, interview with Mary Bronstein ("If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You")

Episode Overview

This episode dives into Scott Cooper’s “Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the Bruce Springsteen-Nebraska biopic starring Jeremy Allen White, exploring why it fails to transcend music biopic clichés and what could have made it more resonant. The conversation detours into the persistent hurdles of music biopics and the panel builds their Mount Rushmore of the genre, discussing best and worst approaches. The episode also includes an in-depth interview with Mary Bronstein about her new A24 film "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You," examining the challenges of depicting motherhood on screen.

Deliver Me From Nowhere: Review & Dissection

Movie Basics & Setup

• Scott Cooper directs, based on Warren Zanes’ nonfiction about Springsteen’s Nebraska era.
• Cast includes Jeremy Allen White (Bruce), Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Odessa Young (composite love interest).
• The panel: Sean, Amanda, CR, Yossi—all with varying levels of Boss fandom and music biopic expertise.

Overall Impressions (02:53)

• Yossi opens by forcing herself to give a compliment:
  “It’s cool. It’s not a cradle-to-the-grave. They tried something artsy with the black and white. Was it effective? No. But did they try? Yes.” (03:09)
• Amanda’s take:
  “This is straight up not a movie...we were giggling throughout at the absolute silliness and cliché nature.” (05:16)
• Chris Ryan:
  “There just wasn’t a movie in this, and maybe it was just, like, a cool idea at a cool time.” (07:34)

Specific Critiques and Missed Opportunities

Character & Story Issues

• Lack of compelling female characters: “There’s simply one all-female character in this composite.” (Yossi, 04:47)
• Obvious narrative clichés, overreliance on flashbacks:
  “It is attempting to be the opposite of Walk Hard and it inadvertently commits every sin. Like, the flashback stuff is so bad.” (Sean, 17:16)
• Uninspired depiction of artistic creation:
  “I just think this thing that I love about Bruce Springsteen is how he makes very specific, detailed storytelling into universal themes. And this movie felt like the inverse of that.” (CR, 14:09)
• Missed dramatic and emotional beats from Zanes’ book (compared scenes, richer real-life background omitted).

Springsteen Lore & Artistic Stakes

• Book’s real drama (Bruce’s radical left-turn, “reverse going electric”) missing from the movie.
• Too much “musician gear talk” with little context for the uninitiated.

CR: “Warren’s thesis is that this is the biggest left turn in pop music history...it’s like a reverse going electric for Dylan. And that’s not what this movie’s about at all.” (08:49)

Moments that Work

• Jeremy Allen White’s on-stage Springsteen moments (“leaves Earth” playing Born to Run, 11:29).
• Some music performances capture the essence but the film “punishes” the audience by holding back.

On Performances

• Jeremy Allen White: Brooding, physically convincing, but overall shallow character depth. “It feels like Carmy landed in Bruce Springsteen’s life” (28:54)
• Jeremy Strong: Performance described as oddly self-conscious and lacking flair (32:20).
• Odessa Young: Doing her best with an underwritten, composite role (31:35).

Dramatic and Emotional Thrust

• Persistent sense of “nothing is on the line”: “...there’s just not really a true dramatic thrust to this movie that makes it feel like anything is really on the line.” (Sean, 23:44)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Amanda on therapy culture in art:
  “I am a disciple of therapy...It is bad for art. It is great for the artist and really, really boring for art...it is bad for the tension. It is bad for the dialogue...” (25:07)
• Yossi on music biopics’ potential:
  “Music biopics can always be good. That’s why I’m so let down when they’re bad, because I think this is...one of the most compelling and rich things in the world.” (07:34)
• Springsteen as subject:
  “I tried to end this on a positive note, but you brought it back down...Ed says he’s not the boss. I’m the boss.” (61:04)
• On the music biopic genre’s irrelevance:
  “We’re fucked, because they’re just going to keep making movies about artists that are more and more important to us because we’re getting old.” (44:09, CR)

Key Timestamps: Deliver Me From Nowhere Review

• [03:09] Yossi’s opening critique/compliment
• [05:16] Amanda describes the movie as “not a movie”
• [07:34] CR’s disappointment, lack of a movie
• [11:29] Best concert scene moment
• [14:09] CR on movie’s generic storytelling
• [25:07] Amanda on therapy’s impact on art
• [31:35] Odessa Young’s character called a “manic pixie New Jersey girl”
• [39:22] Oscar prospects for Jeremy Allen White discussed
• [44:33] Mount Rushmore of Music Biopics—panel shifts to broader genre talk

Music Biopics: Mount Rushmore Discussion

Best of Genre

• Yossi: "24 Hour Party People" (“kind of about a label and a scene, but it counts”) (44:33)
• Sean & Amanda: "Coal Miner’s Daughter"
  “It’s kind of the template setter and maybe ruined them a little bit.” (45:28)
• CR: "I'm Not There" (“complete unknown,” fun modern take)
• Sean: "Love & Mercy" (“gives you both—making of Pet Sounds and Wilson later in life”) (48:06)

Why Most Biopics Fail

• Overly conventional—falling into "walk-hard" parody
• Fear of showing real flaws or darkness of artists
• Overly literal “one-tone” narratives (Yossi: “one tone, and that is the tone of the film, and we will not stray from that tone.” 29:51)
• Biopics often serve only “Oscar bait” purposes

Ones They Dread

• Clash: “I don’t want to ever see a movie about the Clash.” (50:35, CR)
• Beastie Boys: “They should not do that...nightmare to me.” (52:42, Sean)
• Taylor Swift: “We collectively as a society can’t live through a Taylor Swift biopic.” (53:31, Amanda)
• Kurt Cobain/Nirvana: “Leave Kurt Cobain alone.” (54:32, Amanda & Yossi)
• Oasis: Cautious but acknowledges rich comedic potential (58:38)

The State of the Music Biopic (and Oscar Talk)

• Box Office Realities:
  Music biopics are one of the few adult genres that can still break through, typically on the strength of music nostalgia. “You kind of shouldn’t make this movie unless it’s gonna make money” (36:39, Sean).

• Oscar Prospects:
  Post-Telluride buzz faded, especially with a crowded Best Actor field.
  "That is a best actor nomination. Locked and loaded right there for you. And now with some distance, you have a very crowded best actor race this year..." (39:22)

Parent/Child Films & “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You” (Interview)

Quick Impressions (62:50–69:28)

• Mary Bronstein’s film focuses on motherhood’s terror, endurance, and emotional wildness, shot almost entirely in claustrophobic close-up.
• Amanda: “I felt like I was gonna throw up throughout this movie, which is said as a compliment” (64:05)
• Themes: Isolation, sacrifice, loss of self in parenting, rarely captured in cinema.
• Rose Byrne’s performance lauded as “astonishingly good” and a likely Oscar contender.

Mary Bronstein Interview Highlights

• Genesis of the Film:
  Wrote the script “on the bathroom floor of a really shitty hotel room” while caring for her sick daughter (70:06).

  “I literally felt myself disappearing. My being, my self. And I started writing the script in that bathroom...” (70:06–72:44)

• Script and Vision:
  Took years to refine. Most people who read the script “said, ‘best script I’ve ever read...but we can’t make it.’” (75:43)
• Industry Pressure:
  Urged to “lean into a missing woman, make it a crime thing.” She refused, waiting for the right partner—A24.
• Visual and Narrative Choices:
  The script spelled out visual language (e.g., extreme close-ups and the decision to never show the daughter’s face—an “empathy test” for viewers).

  “Once you introduce the face of a child...your sympathy is going to go with the child automatically...I need that not to be a complication.” (102:32)

• Motherhood in Art:
  Mary wanted to subvert the “unlikable mother” trope and force the audience into full empathy with her protagonist.
• Autobiography & Risk
  Movie is emotionally true but not a literal autobiography.

  “It is emotionally true. Everything in it is emotionally true.” (87:40)

• Reception & Impact:
  The movie has powerfully affected parent viewers (especially mothers) and prompts introspection about the loss of self, unspoken difficulties, and emotional taboos in parenting.

Final Takeaways & Tone

• The episode combines serious criticism, casual snark, and industry-savvy insight.
• Panelists are long-time critics, music obsessives, and deeply skeptical about music biopic “Oscar bait,” though they still love the form when it’s done honestly or inventively.
• The Mary Bronstein segment is more intimate, deeply empathetic, and matches the close-up, psychological tone of her film.

Most Memorable Quotes (with Attribution)

• Yossi (compliments biopics' promise):
  "Music biopics can always be good. And that's why I'm so let down when they're bad..." (07:34)
• Amanda (on therapy in movies):
  "I am a disciple of therapy...It's good for the artist and really, really boring for art." (25:07)
• CR (on the film's flaws):
  "This movie felt like the inverse [of Springsteen's music]. It was a very generic story and very generic scenes." (14:09)
• Amanda (on motherhood movies):
  "You motherfuckers don't realize that being a mom is insane. That's kind of what..." (65:56)
• Mary Bronstein:
  "I literally, in a very literal sense, felt myself disappearing...and I started writing the script in that bathroom." (70:06)
• Mary Bronstein:
  "It's emotionally true—everything in it is emotionally true, which is what I was trying to get at." (87:40)

Useful Timestamps

• 03:09–17:41 Panel’s review of “Deliver Me from Nowhere,” including gripes and giggles.
• 23:44–26:01 Art, therapy, and why modern “wellness” can deaden cinema.
• 44:33–49:03 Music Biopic Mount Rushmore: best examples, panel’s picks.
• 53:31–54:32 Why we cannot handle a Taylor Swift biopic.
• 62:50–69:28 “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You” quick review, parenthood film themes.
• 70:06–108:49 Mary Bronstein interview: creation, vision, motherhood, and emotional honesty in art.

Concluding Thoughts

• “Deliver Me From Nowhere” left the hosts unsatisfied and highlighted the enduring clumsiness of most music biopics, with a few rare, inspired exceptions.
• The panel’s candid, conversational tone makes for an insightful critique—simultaneously critical, geeky, and self-aware.
• Mary Bronstein’s interview emerges as a refreshing celebration of uncompromising art, self-examination, and what it means to create (and parent) authentically.
• Both segments reveal film as a minefield of cliché and commerce, but also a battleground for truth, empathy, and breaking taboos.

For listeners and movie lovers considering these films or the biopic genre, this episode offers smart criticism, memorable moments, and a few hard-won recommendations.