Salinger

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.

JD Salinger's work had a big impact on me for years after I read it at 17. I then read all of the short stories and I marveled at their craft but never quite in the rapture that Catcher In the Rye had. "Catcher..." was completely original and it was critical of modern society in a way that made most main stream adults uncomfortable. Having a hate-hate relationship with my parents at the time made "Catcher" a tremendous source of comfort but one does grow up so I haven't thought of the young Holden Caulfield, self-centered prep-school wash-out, for more decades than I care to admit.

But the thought of peering onto the private doings of J.D. Salinger and all of his various trysts is creepy like Norman Bates in Psycho obsessed with his mother and unable to move on psychologically. But I'm grateful to J.D. Salinger for showing me what good writing was but the documentary may have to wait for the published work to bleed out and hold him accountable for that. Whether he was a lousy father or spouse is for the gossip mags to hash out.

An unprecedented look inside the private world of J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye.

I didn't know very much about J. D. Salinger, and frankly was not a huge fan of "Catcher" (though perhaps I should revisit it). That being said, this was an interesting look at a literary giant. I loved the WWII aspects, and I had no idea about Oona O'Neill; her relationship with Chaplin is legendary, but Salinger, too? The film's biggest weakness is that it could probably be trimmed by a good thirty minutes. Much of the running time is focused on actors commenting on Salinger and his work. I understand that they provide a name to help ell the documentary, but their opinions dob't really have any value if they never met the man.