How Jeremy Allen White prepared to sing like Bruce Springsteen

In his 500-page memoir, “Born to Run,” Bruce Springsteen spends less than three pages on the making of his 1982 album “Nebraska.”

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Moving on, folks, nothing to see here, he seems to be saying. The first authorised biopic of his life — “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” — disagrees, delving deep into the inner turmoil The Boss was dealing with during its recording and then surfacing with an endearing, humbling portrait of an icon by a soulful Jeremy Allen White.

With heavy-lidded eyes and his head nearly almost cocked at an angle, White gives us a wretched Springsteen, open-mouthed in ecstasy when playing live but sunken in his leather jacket while roaming the streets. He sucks on his harmonica as if it could release him from pain itself. To be honest, White hasn't stepped much out of his hangdog, tortured sweet spot. He's the chair of the Tortured Poets Department.