My Salinger Year

20202020
RR
1h 41min

My Salinger Year (2020)

New York in the 90s: After leaving graduate school to pursue her dream of becoming a writer, Joanna (Margaret Qualley) gets hired as an assistant to Margaret (Sigourney Weaver), the stoic and old-fashioned literary agent of J. D. Salinger. Fluctuating between poverty and glamour, she spends her days in a plush, wood-paneled office – where dictaphones and typewriters still reign and agents doze off after three-martini lunches – and her nights in a sink-less Brooklyn apartment with her socialist boyfriend. Joanna’s main task is processing Salinger’s voluminous fan mail, but as she reads the heart-wrenching letters from around the world, she becomes reluctant to send the agency’s impersonal standard letter and impulsively begins personalizing the responses. The results are both humorous and moving, as Joanna, while using the great writer’s voice, begins to discover her own.

Play trailer2:07

A college grad takes a clerical job working for the literary agent of the renowned, reclusive writer J.D. Salinger.A college grad takes a clerical job working for the literary agent of the renowned, reclusive writer J.D. Salinger.A college grad takes a clerical job working for the literary agent of the renowned, reclusive writer J.D. Salinger.

Director
- Philippe Falardeau
Writers
- Philippe Falardeau
- Joanna Smith Rakoff(based on the book by)
Stars

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations

Videos3

Official Trailer (2021)

Official Trailer (2021)

Official Trailer

Official Trailer

My Salinger Year

My Salinger Year

My Salinger Year (2020)

My Salinger Year (2020)

My Salinger Year (2020)

Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (2020)

Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (2020)

Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (2020)

Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (2020)

Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (2020)

Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (2020)

Douglas Booth and Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (2020)

Sigourney Weaver, Brían F. O'Byrne, Seána Kerslake, and Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (2020)

Sigourney Weaver in My Salinger Year (2020)

Supernova

6.9

Land

6.6

Best Sellers

6.1

Typo

3.4

French Exit

5.9

Last Night in Rozzie

5.2

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Dream Horse

6.9

Young and the Ratchet

4.4

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Falling

6.5

Streamline

5.9

The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

6.3

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Final Frequency

3.1

Final Frequency

In New York City's late nineties, a young aspiring writer lands a day-job at J.D. Salinger's literary agency. While her eccentric and old-fashioned boss tasks her to process Salinger's voluminous fan mail, she struggles to find her own voice. —micro_scope

Taglines
- The first job is always a great adventure.
Genre
- Drama
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for language and some sexual references
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

Trivia
Premiered as the opening film of the 2020 Berlinale.

Goofs
Joanna, referencing U.C. Berkeley, says she's like "a big cloud of East Coast irony haunting Southern California," but Berkeley is in Northern California.

Quotes
Joanna: The job of an agent is to open up opportunities for their clients, but, when it came to Salinger, the logic was reversed. We had to shield him from the outside world, bolstering his reputation as a complicated recluse.

Connections
References Soy Cuba (1964)

Soundtracks
Everyday
Performed by Tinsley Ellis
Written by Bob De Pugh (as Bob DePugh) and Tinsley Ellis
Published by De Pugh Music, Frozen Inca Music
Courtesy of Alligator Records

Top review

7/10

A light breeze of a film

This film isn't a gale of entertainment. Much like the book. It's a Sunday read in the sun while the breeze blows. Or a Saturday late movie when you can't sleep because the damn moon is full and is keeping you up. Wonderfully acted. Styled realistically. Engaged dialogues. Sigourney carries herself and the film along every time she appears and Margaret is a delight to watch- she is going places. Read the book and watch the film. Or watch the film and read the book. It matters not what comes first. The movie is for all book lovers, and whether time has read Catcher or not. A solid 7.

helpful•26

4

paul_cush
Jan 29, 2021

Release date
- March 5, 2021 (United States)
Countries of origin
- Canada
- Ireland
Official sites
- Official site
- producer's official website
Language
- English
Also known as
- My New York Year
Filming locations
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Production companies
- micro_scope
- Parallel Film Productions
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Gross US & Canada
- $54,730
Opening weekend US & Canada
- $28,851
- Mar 7, 2021
Gross worldwide
- $750,030

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Runtime
- 1h 41min
Color
- Color

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My Salinger Year (2020)

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