Coming Through the Rye (2015)

In 1969, the Holden Caulfield-obsessed Jamie Schwartz runs away from boarding school to find the reclusive author J.D. Salinger. Inspired by actual events, Jamie's search is a journey into the meaning of friendship, love and loss.

Director:

James Steven Sadwith

Writers:

James Steven Sadwith, James Steven Sadwith

Stars:

Alex Wolff, Stefania LaVie Owen, Chris Cooper

12 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alex Wolff	...	Jamie Schwartz
Stefania LaVie Owen	...	Deedee (as Stefania Owen)
Chris Cooper	...	J.D. Salinger
Jacob Leinbach	...	Hank Marcus
Eric Nelsen	...	Ted Tyler
Jacob Rhodes	...	Freddy Goreshi
Kabby Borders	...	Maureen
Collin Lenfest	...	Mike Platt
Michael Siberry	...	Mr. Dewitt
Zephyr Benson	...	Gerry Schwartz
Lucia Scarano	...	Mom
James Lorenzo	...	Mr. Zefferelli
Adrian Pasdar	...	Mr. Tierney
Randall Newsome	...	Alan
Caleb Emery	...	Billy Campbell

Storyline

Coming Through the Rye, set in 1969, is a touching coming of age story of sensitive, 16 yr. old Jamie Schwartz, who is not the most popular kid at his all boys' boarding school. Disconnected from students and teachers, he believes he is destined to play Holden Caulfield, the main character of The Catcher in the Rye, and has adapted the book as a play. After a series of increasingly hostile altercations with the boys at school Jamie runs away to search for JD Salinger. On his way he picks up Deedee Gorlin, a quirky townie. Their odyssey to find Salinger becomes a journey of sexual awakening, the discovery of love and of the meaning of one's life.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to j.d. salinger | year 1969 | 1960s | reference to holden caulfield | reference to catcher in the rye | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some drug material, sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Uma Jornada Inesquecível

Filming Locations:

Orange County, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,000, 16 October 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,000, 16 October 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Red Hat Films, River Bend Pictures, Cold Beer Friday

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was shot at Orange County, Virginia.

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Goofs

About 13 minutes in, the main character states, "Apparently before Mr. Cerf was ever famous, he started Random House books which happens to be the company that put The Catcher in the Rye in print." Little Brown was, in fact, the publisher.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits include the disclaimer that "The characters and events portrayed in this motion picture are fictitious" even though J.D. Salinger is clearly a real person and the opening credits include a statement that this movie is based on real events.

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Soundtracks

I Will Be There
Written by Jacob Jones, Duncan Nielsen, Cody Rhodes, and Eric Wallace
Performed by City Tribe
Courtesy of Castle Peak Music
By arrangement with Marble Eye Music and Always Destroyin

User Reviews

Feeble autobiographical ego piece

I admit to being thrown off by the rave reviews here, because I found this movie utterly dull and not at all moving or evocative. To the degree it may have touched on the coming-of-age experience, it did so because of cliche scenes and plot lines recycled from every movie you have seen about young people. The writing suffers from the fault of telling rather than showing; we hear all about Jamie's masterful writing and intelligence, yet see none of it for ourselves.

There is no clever, insightful, or witty dialogue, and viewers never truly see Jamie's personality because it is overwhelmed by his obsession with and kowtowing to Salinger in a way that is uncomfortable to the viewer. I couldn't connect or sympathize with the character, a problem compounded by actor Alex Wolff's performance falling flat. Lackluster music intensified the lethargy.

The central problem, I think, is the film's autobiographical conceit. The story here could be interesting if executed with panache: aspiring and troubled boy seeks out reclusive author, receives golden wisdom. But the film's relentless desire to project Jamie as a hero refuses the more interesting (and believable) denouement, a glorious letdown as a teenager comes to realizes his skills are no match for J.D. Salinger and he is not ready for the real world. Instead the film takes Jamie's skills for granted, even though, as he himself admits, all he has done is re-write a novel with some abridgments and added stage directions.

I am shocked not that the screenwriter/director, James Sadwith, actually thought as a teenager he would be the one to receive Salinger's permission to produce an adaptation, because ambitious teenagers think this way. They inflate their sense of self. What shocks me is that Sadwith never learned his lesson, never became more self-aware. He became convinced in retrospect that he really had produced something grand and the world needed to see his story on screen. The film is a sort of end-run around Salinger's interdiction, offering up Sadwith's own Holden Caulfieldesque journey as if it can compete with Salinger's hero; can prove the famous author made a mistake in rebuffing him; can appeal to great fans of the classic novel.

Ultimately, in attempting to take a place on the pedestal with Salinger, Sadwith trips on the man's coattails.