Upon its release in 1951, “The Catcher in the Rye” became the companion of millions of American teenagers—its narrator, Holden Caulfield, became their voice. J. D. Salinger’s book has resonated with generations ever since and has sold more than 60 million copies. “Salinger,” the new documentary directed by Shane Salerno (writer and producer of “Savages”), examines the mysterious author’s life, from his upbringing in posh New York society to his retreat into rural New Hampshire.
The film’s lackluster form overshadows its content. “Salinger” features interviews with the author’s family, friends, biographers, fans and notable names in entertainment—including Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Martin Sheen. These interviews are captivating, but what Salerno uses to fill the void between them is not. The film repeatedly zooms in and out of the few photographs of the author ever taken and overuses footage of a man pounding at a typewriter on a dark stage. It lacks transitions and makes awkward introductions of “never before seen footage” and “previously unknown” information about Salinger’s life in text on a dark screen.
All of this is disappointing, given that Salinger’s life and work holds potential for a fascinating documentary. The author was, and still is, surrounded in mystery, and what we know about him—including his experience with PTSD and his simultaneously endearing–yet–creepy interest in children—makes his writing all the more curious. Most interesting in “Salinger” is the discussion of “The Catcher in the Rye” used as inspiration to kill, as Mark David Chapman, John Lennon’s murderer, did. In his defense, Chapman says into the camera, “I was literally living inside a paperback novel: J. D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye.’”
Though disappointing in some ways, “Salinger” sheds light on the personality of an author whose words rang true in the lives of countless people. As Martin Sheen asserts in the film, “I think Salinger understood something about the culture long before the culture understood it about itself.”
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