This is a film not only about Salinger’s process in becoming a writer, but it is about the very process of writing itself—what it MEANS to be a writer, and the power the words of a writer can hold on generations, cultures, and individuals. You go into this movie with a blank slate and you walk out molded in the fashion of Rodin’s The Thinker—thinking about Salinger, about ALL the forces in his life, and ALL the forces in yours…
Danny Strong’s directorial debut of REBEL IN THE RYE captures the inner life of J.D. Salinger with a fresh, honest, and provocative perspective. Indeed, it is with a literary economy of scales that Strong orchestrates multiple layers of perspectives and relationships that ultimately define the life of Salinger, played with wonderful conviction by Nicholas Hoult, who got the part via the old-fashioned audition process. Based on true life events that blend fiction with fact, we get a real understanding for what made Salinger tick and untick. We see the role of intergenerational familial patterns at play and most powerful, the incredible relationship between mentor and student, via Salinger’s college professor Whit Burnett, played masterfully by Kevin Spacey.
The crux of the story is that relationship—giving the viewer not only an inside look into the making of Salinger, but the making of any great writing, as Spacey’s delivery of Burnett’s words and ethos hammer in words of strength, courage, and wisdom. This is a film not only about Salinger’s process in becoming a writer, but it is about the very process of writing itself—what it MEANS to be a writer, and the power the words of a writer can hold on generations, cultures, and individuals. You go into this movie with a blank slate and you walk out molded in the fashion of Rodin’s The Thinker—thinking about Salinger, about ALL the forces in his life, and all the forces in yours…
For Hollywood LIT Retreaters and anyone seeking artistic expression, REBEL IN THE RYE is must see.
September 15: Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Encino, Pasadena, Minneapolis, Queens, Berkeley, Laguna Niguel, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Stamford, and Washington DC
September 22: Rolls out to other markets across the country, including Ann Arbor, Dallas, Denver, Des Mois, Palm Desert, Santa Cruz and more....
Danny Strong’s directorial debut of REBEL IN THE RYE captures the inner life of J.D. Salinger with a fresh, honest, and provocative perspective. Indeed, it is with a literary economy of scales that Strong orchestrates multiple layers of perspectives and relationships that ultimately define the life of Salinger, played with wonderful conviction by Nicholas Hoult, who got the part via the old-fashioned audition process. Based on true life events that blend fiction with fact, we get a real understanding for what made Salinger tick and untick. We see the role of intergenerational familial patterns at play and most powerful, the incredible relationship between mentor and student, via Salinger’s college professor Whit Burnett, played masterfully by Kevin Spacey.
