A young woman, Joanna (Margaret Qualley) leaves her musician former boyfriend, Karl (Hamza Haq) and comes to the big city New York after graduating from college.  A poet herself, she is hoping to become a published writer of poetry. 

Joanna is hired by literary agent Margaret (Sigourney Weaver) to work at a publishing house, as a person to read/answer JD Salinger’s fan mail (which Salinger was not allowed to see) and to answer his calls when he phoned, thinking this would lead to a writing career for Joanna.  The only one nice to her at work was Daniel, a higher-up staffer member (Colm Feore).  In the movie, Judy Blume (played by Gillian Doria), who wrote more books than Salinger, wasn’t treated as well.

After moving in with a married couple of friends, Joanna meets a bookstore clerk Don (Douglas Booth) who writes an explicit manuscript about himself and wants Joanna to edit it for him.  They move in together with only her name on the rental contract (his idea).   

She never seems to have time to work on her own poetry because her job involved extracurricular activities like making sure things were delivered at odd hours in addition to editing her new boyfriend’s manuscript.

If Joanna stays with either boyfriend, she will always be second without shining at all—supporting one of them and not being supported herself.   The concert musician will want her full adoration of his skills while the bookstore clerk thinks all her time should be his.  There was even a very good dream dance number with the musician boyfriend which was the end to their relationship.

JD Salinger published his first novel Catcher in the Rye in 1951 at the same publisher and his last work in 1965.   Joanna answers his calls and he questions her and encourages her to continue to write her poetry every day.

I can relate to the relationship between author and first contact.   I once worked at a publisher where I loved talking to authors about their expected payments.   I also loved the small library of published works the publishing house had.   Although I tried to get them to do imprints of smaller works like a book of my short stories, they wouldn’t go for it, so I can relate to her situation.

Catcher in the Rye was the only novel written by Salinger.   I read it when I was a teenager and I don’t remember it at all.   I’ll have to read it again.   His novel has been banned many times over the years.   Maybe because the novel’s 16-year-old Holden Caulfield’s language and life situations were and are considered to be too mature.

Let’s not forget what our young people are watching today as animation:  The Simpsons where never-aging son Bart tells his father to “eat his shorts”; South Park where in one episode, grown men make their testicles grow so huge that the men can ride on them and collect disability; Family Guy where the baby Stewie is a literally super child who commits felonies, etc.  These are things I’ve seen flipping through channels.                       

Although this movie My Salinger Year portrays Salinger as a total recluse, Riley’s article says he went to church socials in New Hampshire.   “He was hanging out with people who think good fences make good neighbors and that people who come asking about folks that prefer their privacy don’t deserve much in the way of cooperation.”

Aldrich says that Catcher is an “incredibly educational novel which promotes moral lessons essential for high schoolers.”

Salinger’s worth at his death in 2010 was $20 million.   He made most of his money selling short stories to New Yorker and other magazines.

Screenplay written and directed by Philippe Falardeau.  Based on author Joanna Rakoff’s memoir.   The MPAA rating for My Salinger Year is R for language and some sexual references.   I must have missed those things or I am used to seeing just as much of that in PG-13 movies.

Sources:

Eleanor Ringel, “’My Salinger Year’—A Lightweight Movie Based on J.D. Salinger’s Literary Agency”, saportareport.com, March 22, 2021.

Peter J. Riley, “JD Salinger Really Was a Park Avenue Rich Kid”, Forbes, October 3, 2013.

Wikipedia

Elena Nicolaou, “11 Best Judy Blume Books That Will Take You Way Back to Your Tween Years”, https://www.oprahdaily.com, April 8, 2020.

Rae Alexandra, “JD Salinger’s Pursuit of Teen Girls Gets Renewed Attention After ‘Allen v. Farrow’”, Arts and Culture, KQED.org, April 2, 2021.

Haley Aldrich, “4 Reasons the Catcher in the Rye was Banned”, Bookstr.com, June 9, 2021.

“Catcher in the Rye Should Not Be Banned”, 123helpme.com.

Written by Rosa L. Griffin

I’ve always liked Laurel and Hardy as performers.   They portrayed two kind and sincere people who loved life but life didn’t seem to love them. Their characters had several careers to which they were neither suited nor qualified.   They danced, sang, and made jokes in their movies and live performances.    If you have never seen any of their old material, you are in for a calming treat.  

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy began in silent movies until talkies and lasted from 1927-1955.   In 1927, “Putting Pants on Philip” was their first official film released featuring the comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy.

1937 was the height of their careers and they should have had a luxurious life but Oliver wasn’t good with money.  They were in 107 short movies, feature films, and cameo roles.   In 1953, they went on their last tours as illustrated in the movie.   Lots of books have been written about them.  

Oliver (played by John C. Reilly) feels that Hal Roach (played by Danny Huston) is not paying him enough of the profits from their movies.   Roach feels that Oliver should stop collecting wives and get a better handle on his money.  The trouble comes when Laurel (played by Steve Coogan) doesn’t support Stan in his attempt to get more money.   Roach’s solution is to replace Oliver with another comedian.

John C. Reilly is a great character actor who came into his own after movies such as Talladega Nights:  The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Delores Claiborne, Dark Water, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the musical film Chicago that I’ve seen him in, but he has been in 105 movies.

Steve Coogan is also a great character actor of whom I have not seen enough.  I saw him as a villain in the movie The Other Guys, but he, like Reilly, has been in a lot of movies.

Danny Huston I would also describe as a character actor.   I’ve seen him in a few movies such as a vampire leader in 30 Days of Night, a military commander trying to steal the powers of and get rid of all mutants in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a Nazi commander greedy for power in Wonder Woman, a man using Hitchcock’s wife to get Alfred Hitchcock to read his script in the movie Hitchcock among others.

Shirley Henderson plays Oliver Hardy’s wife, Lucille.   She is a tiny woman with a tiny voice whom I’ve seen in a lot of British movies.   I’ve seen her as a drowned little girl ghost Moaning Myrtle in two Harry Potter movies, Jude in three Bridget Jones movies, Edythe in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Ursula Blake in Dr. Who, DS Angela Young in Death in Paradise, and doing Babu Frik’s voice in Star Wars:  The Rise of Skywalker.

Nina Arianda plays Stan Laurel’s bossy outspoken wife Ida Kitaeva Raphael Laurel with a Russian accent.  She was very good in the role. Unfortunately, the only movie I’ve seen her in is Midnight in Paris, but she is noted for many movies and plays.

Stan and Ollie was directed by Jon S. Baird.  The movie is very true to the acts they performed in real life.   I loved the movie.  Thanks for giving me insight into their lives.

Source:  Wikipedia    

Written by Rosa L. Griffin

I saw this movie on DVD from the public library.

This movie is about moms who are stressed to the point of violent acts or suicide, but it’s a comedy.   I was nearly stressed out in watching the movie myself because I thought it was going to turn into a horror movie, but I had to continue to watch to see how it came out.   All of the moms have issues, not unlike mothers today, and the issues revolved around their husbands and children.

The main mom Allyson (Sarah Drew) swears she can’t do anything right in trying to raise three small children with her husband Dr. Sean (Sean Astin), who can’t understand why there is such a problem.  Even with his wife in hysterics almost daily, he can’t understand why.   She only came up for air once when her little girl had made crayon drawings on the wall and she decided to put frames around them.   I thought she would continue to calm down then, but, no, she fussed out someone at a restaurant, etc., on her night out.  I thought she should go to counseling along with her husband and then maybe her husband would really be able to see her side.

Mom Sondra (Patricia Heaton) thinks she has to be perfect at all times in her role as a pastor’s wife (husband Ray played by Alex Kendrick), and be the correctional officer over their one daughter at the rebellious teenage age.    I felt most sorry for the pastor’s wife who had to be “on” all the time no matter where she went.   Everyone in her husband’s flock, the other moms, her neighborhood, and the world at large used her for their confessor, therapist, etc., and she had no one to confide in, even her busy husband.

Mom Izzy (Andrea Logan White) is actually the calmest of the group of moms but is stressed thinking that she may be pregnant with a third child with her usually hysterical husband (Robert Amaya).   Here’s where the roles are reversed.  The husband is like Allyson in that he feels he can’t do anything right with his children.

Although the husbands don’t have a clue about the plight of their wives, the voices of reason are the men in the movie, except for Izzy’s husband.   Even a male single friend, Kevin (Kevin Downes) was also the voice of reason in his calmness in any situation to which he applied his own solutions.

That tall drink of water, Bones (Trace Atkins), biker/tattoo shop owner, gave Allyson some good advice when the other two mothers were arrested.    She finally had a chance to calm down while waiting for the police to release the other two moms.   Bones spoke things God must have put on his heart to tell her about not trying to be perfect in her life, but to calm down, etc.   The thing is he couldn’t remember what he had told her after the other moms were released.

In spite of the hysterics, the movie is very well made.    I enjoyed it once I got de-stressed.   It was directed by the Erwin Brothers (Andrew and John), young guys with a lot of energy.   Half the actors were producers.

Written by Rosa L. Griffin