‘Springsteen: Save Me from the Unknown’ divides the film critic community

Springsteen: Save Me From the Unknown (2025) opened in U.S. theaters over the weekend following a worldwide advertising campaign, thorough fact-checking by the media, the official release of the legendary ElectricNebraskaand a filming process that unfolded almost daily on social media thanks to the regular presence of Springsteen on set.

“Jeremy Allen White was very, very tolerant of me on the days I showed up on set,” he said. Springsteen the Rolling Stone in early 2025. “I told him, ‘Look, any time I’m in the way, just give me a look and I’ll go home.’”

There’s still a long way to go, but the film had a disappointing debut at the box office, grossing just $16.1 million worldwide. And with a budget of $55 million, it could be an uphill battle for the film to turn a profit. It’s quite possible that positive word of mouth will keep it in theaters until the end of the holiday season, and as much White as Jeremy Strongin the role of the businessman Jon Landaucan receive nominations for major awards. If that happens, the film will certainly get a second chance at the box office.

Save me from the Unknowndirected by Scott Cooperhas a 60% approval rating on the Tomatometer of Rotten Tomatoeswhich means that the critical consensus was divided. Most critics were impressed with both Jeremys’ performances, but some were disappointed with the decision to place the entire film in a narrow window of time between 1981 and 1982, the flashbacks to Jeremy’s childhood. Springsteenand the emphasis on the singer’s mental state and private life rather than his music. Here’s a summary of what some of the top critics thought.

David Fear, from the Rolling Stone: “There is also, of course, the $100 million question: what do fans of Springsteen will you think of that? Some will find it too dark. We don’t blame them. Others will wish there were more sequences like the one in Power Station, where Bruce and the band break it down in “Born in the USA” and meet the tacky demand of Landau to “burn it all down”. We don’t blame them either, though despite the film’s flaws, which Cooper has given audiences here is far more engaging than a simple live-action compilation of greatest hits.”

Manohla Dargis, of The New York Times: “Whitebest known for the series FX The Beardoes not look like Springsteen and, intelligently, he and Cooper they do not try to forge a similarity. Much like the man he plays, however, White He has tremendous charisma and the kind of infinitely interesting face whose rugged beauty and asymmetry draw you to him. His Bruce spends a lot of time alone, and doesn’t speak the language of the therapeutically literate. This means that White needs to express the seemingly inexpressible, even while the character is finding the songs that will express what he cannot, which the actor does with delicacy. In a film full of music that says so much to so many, some of the most memorable moments are the quietest, the lonely silences that sometimes separate bruce of the world, but which also eventually help him return to it.”

Bilge Ebiri, of Vulture: “Everyone making a musical biopic these days (or any kind of biopic for that matter) seems determined to try to make it as non-biopic as possible — which in turn makes the films seem even more like biopics. Fighting against the supposed clichés of the genre, Ssave me from the unknown is limited to a brief period and focuses mainly on the creation of a very peculiar album. But it still can’t help but delve into the childhood flashbacks, the failed romantic relationship—the whole menu of conventions. At its best, the film gives us a candid look at the creative process and reveals it as something sad, scary, sometimes uncontrollable and destructive. For that alone, it’s worth watching.”

Peter Debrugefrom the Variety: “According to Nebraska takes shape, we realized that it wasn’t pop music that Springsteen was doing, but something deeply cynical about the country that Ronald Reagan and mainstream media believed he was defending. Instead, he delivered a pessimistic ballad about all the ways the American Dream had failed. This is how this naked truth found its way to people. The rest — what it meant to each soul you touched — is for you to discover.”

Richard Brodyfrom The New Yorker: “As for the core of the story, the production and release of Nebraska, Springsteen it is intrinsically absorbing in its contours and rushed and blurred in its details. Each scene exists not to closely observe the action or reveal aspects of the character, but to drop bits of information that add up to a plot: Jon meeting an executive who hopes Bruce’s next album will be a big hit; Bruce idly strumming his guitar and tapping the cover of a storybook O’Connor. Cooper pays much more attention to the delivery of the multitrack tape recorder by an associate named Mikey (Paul Walter Hauser) than to Bruce’s efforts to record his songs with him. There is very little of Bruce singing in the house — just enough for evidentiary purposes, and not filmed with any sense of fascination or wonder. There’s no sense of what Bruce is actually looking for while he’s playing, how he crafted each song, how he added additional instrumentation (all of which he performed himself) in his instant home studio. He asks the Mikey to help him record, but their work together in this crucial process is left out.”

Kyle Smith, of The Wall Street Journal: “Written and directed by Scott Cooperthe film does a disservice to the album’s melancholic austerity with garbled writing and tacky directorial flourishes, like making the Boss repeatedly come across himself as a boy (Matthew Anthony Pellicano) retreating from an abusive father (Stephen Graham). Mr. White is becoming tiring, and Jeremy Strong delivers an equally exhaustive interpretation as the entrepreneur of Springsteen, Jon Landauwho should be a confidant, but appears only as a kiss-ass. The film dissolves into a puddle of tears in the final act.”

Chris Richardsfrom The Washington Post: “With Save me from the Unknownthe director and screenwriter Scott Cooper chose to prolong a particularly dark chapter in the creative life of Springsteen — much of it based on a book of the same title by Warren Zanes — resulting in a slow, melancholic, occasionally heavy film about the nonlinear act of making music. Yes, there are some reenactments of shouted shows and stressful studio sessions, but the most significant scenes unfold inside the tidy seaside house where Springsteen recorded Nebraska on a four-track recorder—if not within the unknown solitude of a composer’s head. Springsteen was apparently a frequent visitor to the set of Save me from the Unknown — no doubt cheering up the extras, and probably stressing out the actors. Was he there to be fawned over? Is that what all this is for? In the last decade, Springsteen wrote a generous autobiography, then took it to a Broadway residency, then filmed it for a Netflixand now he’s back on tour, speaking truth to power between songs. He must feel known, loved, understood. Why go to the trouble of channeling all of this through Hollywood pomp and cheesiness into a movie that’s only half-good? Nebraska it was a triumph because it refused to live up to anyone’s expectations. Save me from the Unknown values ​​this decision while missing your chance to do the same.”

• Bruce Springsteen

• cinema

• Jeremy Allen White