J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" has not only influenced millions of young men around the world, it's influenced probably thousands of movies. Many of them feature characters who are on an emotional journey to uncover the true meaning behind Salinger's book, and the inspiration for his iconic protagonist, Holden Caulfield. James Sadwith's film Coming Through the Rye takes it a step further by having one young man on a literal journey to find Salinger himself.
Starring Alex Wolff with the great Chris Cooper as Salinger, the story centers on a teenage boy, who greatly identifies with Caulfield, as he leaves his prep school to find Salinger and get his permission to adapt "The Catcher in the Rye' for the stage. He's joined on the journey by a young woman (Stefania Owen), and the journey looks to largely mirror the one Caulfield found himself on. Here's the official synopsis:
Based on the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker’s own true story, 16-year-old Jamie Schwartz (Alex Wolff) wants desperately to be a worldly adolescent. Unhappy at his all-boys boarding school, his life raft is the belief that he will someday play Holden Caulfield—the complex and alienated main character from the iconic novel The Catcher in the Rye—on Broadway and in the movies. He adapts the novel as a play and runs away to the mountains of New Hampshire to search for the book’s reclusive author, JD Salinger (Academy Award winner Chris Cooper). Along the way he is picked up by a local girl, DeeDee Gorlin (Stefania Owen). Their odyssey and the events that follow are a journey into the meanings of friendship, sex, love and loss.
That Sadwith is basing this on his personal experiences with Salinger should be enough to separate this from other movies about the author. Not sure that comes through in this trailer, though, which looks pretty by-the-book. Coming Through the Rye opens October 14th.
