Uma Jornada Inesquecível

In 1969 a persecuted prep school student in Pennsylvania (Alex Wolff) runs away to find the author of "Catcher in the Rye" in the hills of New Hampshire to get his permission to produce a play based on his classic novel. Stefania LaVie Owen is on hand as the girl from a nearby school whom he travels with while Chris Cooper plays the curmudgeonly recluse J.D. Salinger.

"Coming through the Rye" (2015) is a coming-of-age drama based on a true story. Being set in an all-male boarding school with sequences involving a female school, you can't help but compare it with "Dead Poets Society" (1989). While it's not great like that movie, it's quite good. They're really not that similar in the first place because "Coming through the Rye" is just as much of a road movie as it is a historical boarding school flick.

Wolff is good as the likable & sympathetic protagonist while Stefania is a winsome cutie. The story takes off when the two team-up in the second act. Their honest relationship is the core of the tale with the boy's possible interactions with the author playing a secondary role.

Someone called the movie "phony" because Salinger's classic book looked "down upon those who refuse to accept life as anything other than miserable and unforgiving. Its sincerity is guided by distrust in others and it spits in the face of affection and benevolence." Gee, ya think that might be why Salinger is depicted as an antisocial curmudgeon in the movie? Besides, it can't be too phony if the events are based on a true story with 90% accuracy according to writer/director James Steven Sadwith.

The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes and was shot in Orange County, Virginia. Speaking of which, the gorgeous Eastern locations are a huge plus.

GRADE: B

This is a winner. Believable acting, tight script, fine camera work. I've not read the book... This film makes me want to. Best parts were when Jamie speaks directly to us, and when he spoke directly to me. Reminded me of things I've not even now have had sorted out concerning my own high school experience.

Many people will enjoy the crap out of this movie because of its angsty hero and the story of his perseverance in the face of a hostile world. The directional arc of this story is almost religious in its message of faith, of feeling chosen, of attempting to interpret the uninterpretable, and forcing yourself to push through the darkness. If that's what the movie had been about, it would have been an absolute masterpiece. Maybe I'm asking too much for a movie to be so aware of its message that its context and narrative go in that direction also.

Unfortunately, the movie is about the universal nature of the mythic Holden Caulfield character. The screenwriter has done exactly what Salinger told him not to do, to interpret the mythos and reduce it to a cheap psychoanalysis of what that character means. As a fan of the book myself, it's disheartening to see just how misinterpreted it becomes even in the most capable of hands.

Don't get me wrong, this movie is enjoyable in and of itself. The movie itself is great looking and moderately satisfying. Cooper is particularly enjoyable as the man himself, operating as both the wise man on the hill and the man behind the curtain. The filmmaker did a fine job with what he had to work with, which was a flawed script that comes to conclusions that don't quite fit together. The hero on a quest motif works extremely well here, but there were many missed opportunities on the journey to reach for more. The opening half-hour comes from a pretty dark and intense place, but that energy isn't sustained, as it instead veers into syrupy redemption rather than attempting to make any statements about where that darkness and intensity comes from. It's apparently enough just to state it exists, like the dragon that must either be slain or domesticated. I don't dislike this movie, but it's frustrating to see a fairly pat story applied to a very complex subject, and attempt to get away with it by shrugging about what it means. The story could very easily have been about what it means instead of simply the shrug.

I saw this film last week and was totally enthralled! The actors, basically "unknown" other than Chris Cooper, were splendid. Virginia looked lovely with glorious fall scenes of winding roads. It/they drew me in and made me feel a part of his journey, and as I mentioned to my friend when it was over "I want to HUG that movie". To think this was actually experienced IN REAL LIFE by the author/director! Wow! I also was pleased that the obligatory romantic scenes were left to the viewer's imagination. Thank you for letting ME (and my imagination) have a part in your movie. So go feel the warmth and charm of a wonderful movie!

Spoiler alert! This movie was so exciting for me to watch. I am a longtime fan of JD Salinger and the only one in my high school English class who didn't write Holden Caulfield off as crazy. I have read other stories of journalists going on treks to locate the reclusive Salinger only to make it as far as his driveway or front door to be turned away. When the filmmaker said 99% of the dialogue between himself and Salinger was true, I couldn't believe a KID had made it through the fortress! I loved the parallels between the young director's life and Holden's portrayed in the movie. He plays Mercutio in a prep school play and the students cheer his death. "But everyone loves Mercutio" he bemoans. You may remember Mercutio was Holden's favorite character in Romeo and Juliet. The alienation he feels from the other kids also parallels Holden's feelings of isolation. I loved the addition of Dee Dee a freckled curly haired cute and wonderfully insightful and kind girl who has an obvious crush on Jamie, the young director. She has her own strong feelings about the book Catcher In The Rye, pointing out that Holden always wanted to save kids from making mistakes and dangerous fates. Perhaps that is even why in reality the famous writer met the young playwright head on and even though he discouraged his play of Catcher in the Rye did encourage his creative endeavors generally.