It’s usually only when you get to see an artist or band play live that you get a measure of their talent. To see them, up on stage, performing their material in front of crowd, creating a connection.

Many of the top, young artists today seemingly miss the concept of a ‘live’ gig, with many miming, so as to not affect the overall performance, before making their exit on the 90 minute mark.

This would be considered a heinous crime by many old school artists, and none are more committed to playing live than Bruce Springsteen.

His gigs are an indication of his passion for making music, and performing it, with him on stage often for longer than four hours.

And this passion is captured in this biography, with Jeremy Allen White as the Boss.

With just finishing his tour for his fifth studio album The River, Bruce Springsteen (White) is wanting a break from the spotlight.

He decides to head back to his home town, where he hires a remote house for himself, where he can decompress and think about what to do next.

It’s while there that he bumps into an old school friend, who introduces him to his sister Faye (Odessa Young), whom he takes a shine to.

The more time he spends in the house, the more his desire to record on his own, in his bedroom, in a very lo-fi fashion, as a new project starts to take shape.

It’s heavily influenced from him being back home, as he’s haunted by his past, living at home, where he would clash with his father (Stephen Graham) who was struggling with demons of his own. But could these strong feelings be the base for a new album?

In 2009, Scott Cooper made his directorial debut with Crazy Heart; a film about a country musician, inspired by the life of Hank Thompson.

After a number of crime and drama films, with a number starring Christian Bale, Cooper comes full circle with a bone fide biography of a music legend.

It doesn’t follow the standard music bio template, as it’s a snapshot of a specific period in Springsteen’s life – much like his songs, in that respect - in the time during the conception for his Nebraska album.

White is impressive as a young Boss, especially when you consider he sings all the material himself, which, as stated before, many of the artists of today can’t even be bothered to do live.

It’s a subtle performance, struggling with his past that is making such an impact on his creativity, without ever having him lose his temper or raise his voice – except for the singing.

It also shows how this state of mind reflects on a blossoming relationship with Faye, who didn’t exist in his real life, but is an amalgamation of the woman he had amorous interactions with at that point of time.

The most positive relationship is with Jon Landau, his manager and producer, played by Jeremy Strong, who is a protective force, and is keen to support Bruce’s requests, however unusual they may be.

It certainly captures the anguish that can come from producing something so personal, with his difficult relationship with his father looming over him.

Seeing more than just this period of this album would have given us more of an insight into the world’s most popular blue collar artist, but then it might have had a duration time that ran into double digits, considering his live performances, and that might just have been a little too much Springsteen, so we may have gotten away likely.

But just like one of his songs can convey a story, Cooper’s film does well in delivering the essence of the man behind the songs, and showcasing a talent that was clearly born to perform.