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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer/director James Steven Sadwith said in an interview that "the movie is about eighty-five percent accurate with what happened up to the moment when I went to search for J.D. Salinger, and from that point it's about ninety-nine percent accurate."

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Goofs

Although Jamie has grander ambitions for his play, all he really needs is permission to put it on one time as a prep school production. He never actually makes this clear to Salinger, who could conceivably not care about such a minor use of his novel; instead, the conversation the two have makes it seem like Jamie was asking for greater rights to the novel.

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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

Half Crazy
Written by Philip Bradford Barr, Andrew Gilmore Barr, Andres Alejandro Vial, and Nathan Moore
Performed by The Barr Brothers
Published by Secret City Publishing Inc.
Licensed courtesy of Secret City Records Inc.

User Reviews

Finding the reclusive author of "Catcher in the Rye" in 1969

In 1969 a persecuted prep school student in Pennsylvania (Alex Wolff) runs away to find the author of "Catcher in the Rye" in the hills of New Hampshire to get his permission to produce a play based on his classic novel. Stefania LaVie Owen is on hand as the girl from a nearby school whom he travels with while Chris Cooper plays the curmudgeonly recluse J.D. Salinger.

"Coming through the Rye" (2015) is a coming-of-age drama based on a true story. Being set in an all-male boarding school with sequences involving a female school, you can't help but compare it with "Dead Poets Society" (1989). While it's not great like that movie, it's quite good. They're really not that similar in the first place because "Coming through the Rye" is just as much of a road movie as it is a historical boarding school flick.

Wolff is good as the likable & sympathetic protagonist while Stefania is a winsome cutie. The story takes off when the two team-up in the second act. Their honest relationship is the core of the tale with the boy's possible interactions with the author playing a secondary role.

Someone called the movie "phony" because Salinger's classic book looked "down upon those who refuse to accept life as anything other than miserable and unforgiving. Its sincerity is guided by distrust in others and it spits in the face of affection and benevolence." Gee, ya think that might be why Salinger is depicted as an antisocial curmudgeon in the movie? Besides, it can't be too phony if the events are based on a true story with 90% accuracy according to writer/director James Steven Sadwith.

The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes and was shot in Orange County, Virginia. Speaking of which, the gorgeous Eastern locations are a huge plus.

GRADE: B

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Szukajac J.D. Salingera

Filming Locations:

Orange County, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,761, 16 October 2016

Gross USA:

$18,137

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,137

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