Rebel in the Rye

This beautiful movie is about the author of the ‘The Catcher in the Rye’. Having read the book, I was intrigued by the negativity of Holden Caufield. When it was mentioned that the book is loosely based on the life of its author J.D.Salinger, I assumed he was a negative person as well.

That is why this movie was important to me. I got a protagonist who was passionate about writing. The J.D.Salinger we see in the movie is anything but negative. He pursues his passion even after his father writes him off as failure. His initial endeavours are replete with rejections. He is then sent to war and claws his way back into writing with the help of meditation. He does have great support stations like his professor played by Kevin Spacey and publishing agent played by Sarah Paulson. He then goes onto publish his most famous work aka ‘The Catcher in the Rye’. However, the fame puts enormous stress on him to deliver better writing and he starts to become paranoid and shuts off from the world hoping to dig deeper. This is where he becomes a rebel by realizing that writing is more important to him than publishing. He decides to not publish a single work since then and has done so until his death in 2010.

I think by the end of this movie, we feel two things as the audience. One is the sadness in realizing that we will never be  able to read any of his great works. Second is the happiness in realizing that the author could actually lead his life doing something he is passionate about instead of pleasing us while suffering.

Good watch for the fans of the book. Also, got me super mad at Kevin Spacey for being such a dick in real life because in reel life, he emotes a stunning performance.