Coming Through the Rye

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!

In 1969 Pennsylvania, Jamie Schwartz (Alex Wolff) is in his Senior Year at Crampton Prep. The other boys hate him and the teachers are little better. He wants to do a play about Holden Caulfield adapting J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. He likes a townie girl but another, Deedee Gorlin (Stefania LaVie Owen), likes him and his play. He runs away from the bullying and goes in search of the reclusive Salinger. Deedee volunteers to drive him.

There are some early extended flashbacks. Most of it is unnecessary except for showing a hatred of him from the start and the cause of his isolation. Jamie is a rather dislikeable awkward nerd while Deedee is adorable. He's clueless in an annoying way. It makes his obsession with the pretty girl very superficial. It's appealing to have his sole obsession be Salinger while avoiding the pretty girl trope. Deedee goes hard at Jamie. They could have played with possible homosexuality except for him falling over himself for the pretty girl. There are issues at play with this coming-of-age story. The relationship grows on me but I never really like Jamie. She's the better character and would have been a better protagonist. Chris Cooper does a nice turn in a small role although that exchange could have some more supportive words even if it comes from Deedee.

Ah, the pain of the teenage years, especially when you're the scourge of your classmates. Coming through the Rye captures those times through such insightful, understanding eyes it seems a bit autobiographical; and sure enough, in the Q&A post screening at the Austin Film Festival, writer/director James Steven Sadwith acknowledged that he was the teenager with a passion for finding Salinger, and this film is based on his experience. Another interesting revelation during the session was that the film's star, Alex Wolff, related that his grandfather, father, and brother all passed the same copy of J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye onto sons and brother when they were 12-13 years old.

The film opens with Jamie (Wolff) having heart-to-heart talks about girls with his older brother Gerry, who has gotten involved in drugs, and is being sent to a treatment center. He thinks he might not go, though, and instead join the armed services (this is the late '60s and the Viet Nam war is ongoing.) Soon after, Jamie is sent to Crampton boarding school and eventually becomes a pariah who is bullied unmercifully.

Jamie decides he's had it when he is awakened and attacked in the middle of the night and his room is left in shambles. At that point he decides to run away. Where to? To find J. D. Salinger, his idol. He has so identified with Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye, he has written a screenplay for a theater production. Upon being told that he must get permission from Salinger before it can be performed, and running up against all kinds of obstacles in the mail, he thinks the only way is to talk to Salinger in person. He has no car, so must hitchhike his way to Vermont where he's told Salinger lives.

The person who picks him up is actually his "townie" friend, Deedee (Owen), who is a motherly sort and worries about his safety. She gets permission from her parents to drive Jamie up to Vermont just for the weekend, hoping to convince him to return to Crampton after their search. I loved her reasoning when she appeals to her reasonable parents; they end up trusting her and giving her room to use her own judgment.

Well, people have been trying for years to find Salinger, who just wants to be left alone. During their search, Jamie and Deedee talk about all kinds of things, and she, who is wise beyond her years, offers comments meant to increase his self-awareness. The film then gets into more coming-of-age dynamics, and ends on valuable moments of truth.

Among all the films about/for teenagers, Sadwith's production is one of the most thoughtful and edifying. Problems are cogently presented, and the model of Deedee's friendship and support of Jamie is exemplary in tone and execution. The scenes of young love are touching and funny, beautiful and awkward. Above all, the script is sound in its cause/consequences connections. Eric Hurt's cinematography, especially the sequences outdoors, takes you right into the action and gives you the feeling of being in the film. Similarly the music by Greg LaFollette, Heath McNease, and Jay Nash enhances the story, with the lyrics elaborating on the action.

The actors cast for Coming through the Rye seems tailor made for the film. Alex Wolff epitomizes the cautious, brainy kind of kid who doesn't quite grasp why anyone would be against him, although he is sincere and thoughtful. It takes another kind-hearted person to gently bring him to acknowledge his weaknesses and deal openly with a major trauma. Stephania Owen is peppy as Deedee and portrays so well the girl/woman who can be such a valuable friend, but may not be the object of passion.

Finally, Chris Cooper, the accomplished actor who has not always received the recognition he deserves, is ideal in the role of Salinger, in his identification with a famous person who does not strive for the limelight. He can be gruff and dismissive, but is clearly attentive to what he sees and hears, and can shift his position in response to a logical or appealing plea—much like the character he plays in August: Osage County as patient and kind, but whose support has limits.

Above the norm for movies about teens.

Grade: A By Donna R. Copeland

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

At first, I thought the best thing about this indie was going to be its beautiful rustic scenery, as the film seemed to have so much awkward, even irritating, dialogue initially. However, I felt that the movie got increasingly better as it progressed, ending well and on an upbeat note.

Set in the mid to late 1960's, as the Vietnam War raged, Alex Wolff stars as Jamie, a student at Crompton Prep, in Pennsylvania. He's adapted a stage play from the classic novel "Catcher in the Rye" (one of my favorite books) by the acclaimed author J.D.Salinger. Being bullied and harassed at his school, Jamie decides to leave and travel to New Hampshire and attempt to locate and get the approval of the extremely reclusive writer.

Stephania LaVie Owen is excellent co-starring as Jamie's friend Deedee, who obviously likes Jamie quite a lot and offers to drive him on his quest. Thus, the two teens will embark on the road trip, with some adventures and discoveries waiting for them along the way.

The superb actor Chris Cooper is spot on as Salinger, as he seeks his privacy above all else in rustic New England. I read that the movie depicts the real life attempts of the film's writer and director James Sadwith, to find and talk to Salinger.

Overall, as mentioned, I found this indie to be awkward and initially filled with rough spots, but I thought it got progressively better, and ended well and on a high note, Thus, I would say it can be a fairly decent watch if you don't expect perfection.