Salinger

"Salinger" is an intense and educational look into the reclusive life of J.D. Salinger. Salinger is known for his novel "Catcher in the Rye" that continues to influence our culture greatly to this day. He took rejection after rejection to get his works published in the New York Times, until he finally had his breakthrough. But becoming an overnight success doesn't suit everyone.

I think this film is incredible. Salinger was such an influential writer, but was so much of a perfectionist in everything that he did so if anyone disagreed with his stories he would discontinue speaking to them. He had his own personal issues that he worked out through his writing, so when he published his stories he was really putting the most hidden parts of himself out there. When he went away to war it really changed them. The amount of death that he saw was enough to make any sane person crazy, but Salinger was already a little strange to begin with. I love the way this documentary conducts interviews with many different people that knew Salinger throughout the years. It was interesting to see how so many of them hadn't had any contact with him for decades because he would end relationships with everyone so quickly and abruptly. He even replaced his own family with "The Glass Family" which is a series of books he wrote. This film shows footage and pictures of his life, and even includes never before seen images of Salinger in WWII which is very interesting to see. The soundtrack in this film is wonderful because it makes certain scenes so much more intense. There are fantastic cuts and edits done to enhance the emotions and overall this is a very well done film.

I think it was very interesting to see how Salinger had an obsession with innocence. He had many different girlfriends and wives, all of them ranging from 16-20. He always put his work before anything else which had a strain on his affairs, so he never kept the same love interest for long. He was also very conflicted on his works. He wanted so badly to share them, but in doing so he risked putting his inner turmoil out there. When he published "Catcher in the Rye" he thought that here he was, having these thoughts and writing these things that no one had ever imagined before. But when the entire nation had the response "oh my God, someone finally understands how I feel!" Salinger was very shocked. He referred to his characters as if they were real people and he lived more in his stories than he did in reality. This documentary has inspired me to read "Catcher in the Rye" and many of his other works because he seems like such a profound yet tortured writer. I am very pleased to know that after his passing, he left his wishes for his writings. In 2015 his "Glass Family" books will begin to be released, along with some of his other hidden works.

This film is really a conversation about this mans life, so I think that needs to be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not this film is for you. It also has some very powerful and intense imagery from World War II which is definitely not something that everyone can handle. I recommend this film for ages 16+ unless you are used to more mature topics and documentaries. "Salinger" is entertaining, heartfelt, intellectual and insightful to the hidden world of this American writer. Overall I give "Salinger" 5 out of 5 stars so be sure to check it out in select theaters near you.

Reviewed by Raven D., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews go to kidsfirst dot org.

A recurring complaint I've read about this movie (I'm more of a movie girl than a film girl, which made it even stranger I'd enjoy a documentary so much) is that it doesn't spend near enough time of Salinger's work itself. Yet that would defeat a lot of the film's unwavering purpose.

A veritable sea of interpretations and impressions of Salinger's published works exist, it is the enigma of the man that is the question, and some of his writing has taken on such an epic and larger-than-the-author stature that even delving in a little would give this film a much different feel, and not in a good way.

I wonder if even a portion of the reasons that Salinger kept so much so to himself and guarded his privacy so very jealousy had to do with that larger-than-the-author reaction, where so much of one's self could be open to misinterpretation based on your art, just as we see in tabloid press about very famous actors, musicians, aristocrats, the extremely wealthy, and whose persona rather than personalities are what are worshipped or disdained.

Salinger is one of those exceedingly rare artists (Kubrick and Bardot are the only ones that come to mind) that basically said, nah, I'm not playing the game. You get some of my art, the rest is for myself or my descendents to choose what to do with, but you don't get me.

8/10

Interesting, eye-opening, documentary on the great novelist JD Salinger. Well-researched, it includes details of his life that weren't widely known.

Has the usual documentary stuff: a linear blow-by-blow account of his life, including some the more pivotal events and how they later affected him. Quite fascinating how his character is shaped, and how he then puts some aspects of his own character, and experiences, into his writing.

However, it's not all wine and roses and only positivity. All aspects of Salinger's life are revealed, and some will surprise you. Perfect he was not.

On the down side, I felt that most of the interviews with stars were unnecessary. They really didn't have much to add and were just there as a cheerleader squad.

Very interesting and well worth watching.

This is a fantastic documentary. I read the new book, "Salinger" a week prior and still thoroughly enjoyed the documentary. While there is more information in the book, the documentary provided all the emotion that is hard to derive from a book. It was amazing to see footage of Salinger that had never been released. This is not a one sided portrayal of the author. The film makers successfully show his attributes and weaknesses. None of the interviews were superfluous. The music was gorgeous. I've read criticism about the reenactments of Salinger typing in his room. I thought they were very appropriate and not overused. Errol Morris had many more reenactments in "The Thin Blue Line," but that, too was an excellent documentary. I had HIGH hopes about his documentary when I heard it was going to be released and I was not disappointed in the least.

Salinger (2013)

*** (out of 4)

When you check out some of the "Worst of 2013" lists, I'm sure you'll run across this documentary on many of them. I'm not going to lie as there are some major flaws with this picture and I really wouldn't argue with anyone who spits on the film but at the same time, even through the flaws, I found myself caught up in what I was watching. Some of the flaws include the incredibly bad music score, which is constantly playing at the wrong times. In other words, if someone is saying something dramatic we get this overbearing score, which seems to fit a trashy soap opera more than a movie about a genius. There are countless times where you wish you could mute the score and just listen to what the people are saying. Another problem is a moral one and it seems there are moments where the line is crossed and the documentary is just spying on someone who wants to be left alone. I guess we could argue, as does the film, whether or not a public figure deserves to be alone but there's an interview here with a few people who met Salinger and it's quite obvious he wouldn't want them talking. It's also quite obvious that a few people were pretty much stalking him to get a photo, talk to him or just ask him a question. With all of that said, I must admit that the film really keep me glued to it as I wanted to know some more about the man, his reasoning for writing and of course everything behind his legendary book. The film asks many questions and we really don't get too many answers but it's interesting hearing from the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Martin Sheen and countless book experts about the importance of this story and the man himself. I won't spoil the big revelation that comes at the end but that overbearing music score is on display. SALINGER is a very flawed movie and there's no question about that but I think there's still enough good spots scattered around to make it worth watching.