Review of Salinger (2013) by Donovan M — 19 Sep 2013
How on earth could someone make a documentary about one of the most celebrated authors in history, J.D. Salinger, and have it fall flat? Writer-director Shane Salerno has figured it out with Salinger, a documentary about the literary icon that is everything the author of Catcher In The Rye absolutely detested: bombastic and prone to hagiography.
Salerno spent almost a decade researching Salinger and compiling interviews with friends, former lovers and admirers of the famed recluse, including Tom Wolfe and Gore Vidal.Salerno, who wrote the script for Michael Bay's Armageddon so you know where he's coming from, also has a book on Salinger being released in tandem with the film.
Be ready to roll your eyes at the documentary's lame dramatic re-enactments, its tacky score and how ostentatious its literary posturings are. We find out Salinger was a cranky recluse who had a penchant for younger girls, likely married a Nazi and was apparently more enamored of his characters than his own family.
The only revelation worth talking about is the fact that five more books he wrote will be published posthumously between 2015 and 2020. I can't wait for that. Whatever gets my mind off this claptrap.
This review of Salinger (2013) was written by Donovan M on 19 Sep 2013.
Salinger has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
