Movies about writers so rarely work that it's a wonder anyone still tries to make them. Rebel in the Rye tries very hard to get inside the head of J.D. Salinger as he struggles to write The Catcher in the Rye. Solid idea; spineless execution. Danny Strong, in his feature directing debut, knows how to put a movie together. But his script is basically an overload of cliches that Salinger's writing avoided like Kryptonite. Strong, whose TV writing is exemplary (Recount, Game Change), is doing a by-the-numbers biopic drawn from...
- 9/8/2017
- Rollingstone.com
For his directorial debut, Danny Strong wanted to get a little more personal. The multi-hyphenate is known for his work on both sides of the camera, from acting in small screen fare like “Gilmore Girls” and “Mad Men,” to scripting features like “Game Change” (the HBO movie that earned him two Emmys), “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” and the final pair of “Hunger Games” films, in addition to creating a little show called “Empire,” but when it came time to direct, Strong sought out something closer to his own experience. A biopic of J.D. Salinger fit the bill.
But when Strong’s “Rebel in the Rye” premiered at Sundance earlier this year, the fact-based feature wasn’t a universal crowdpleaser. Fortunately, that’s not the movie audiences will see when it opens in September, and Strong is hopeful that the new version speaks more clearly to his original intentions when it came to telling the story.
But when Strong’s “Rebel in the Rye” premiered at Sundance earlier this year, the fact-based feature wasn’t a universal crowdpleaser. Fortunately, that’s not the movie audiences will see when it opens in September, and Strong is hopeful that the new version speaks more clearly to his original intentions when it came to telling the story.
- 8/3/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
A by-the-books biopic about Catcher in the Rye helmer J.D. Salinger, Danny Strong‘s Rebel in the Rye has quite a story to tell. Salinger was an eccentric hermit that the world never fully got. He helped shape a post-50s revolution with his landmark novel featuring its ever-so-pessimistic main character, Holden Caulfield.
The film starts off with Salinger’s stay at Columbia University, where he studied writing under the tutelage of Whit Burnett (the editor of Story magazine, as played movingly by Kevin Spacey). Already before class even begins Salinger confronts Burnett with his own criteria of what writing should be like. The two end up finding a middle ground and having a prosperous friendship that is at the heart Strong’s film.
Strong has Kenneth Slawenski’s autobiography, A Life, as his guide and, for the most part, he does quite well in portraying the restless agony that...
The film starts off with Salinger’s stay at Columbia University, where he studied writing under the tutelage of Whit Burnett (the editor of Story magazine, as played movingly by Kevin Spacey). Already before class even begins Salinger confronts Burnett with his own criteria of what writing should be like. The two end up finding a middle ground and having a prosperous friendship that is at the heart Strong’s film.
Strong has Kenneth Slawenski’s autobiography, A Life, as his guide and, for the most part, he does quite well in portraying the restless agony that...
- 1/26/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
There was nothing that “The Catcher in the Rye” protagonist Holden Caulfield despised more than phonies, from his own family, to strangers on the street, to silly old Sally Hayes. He might feel the same about Danny Strong’s J.D. Salinger biopic “Rebel in the Rye,” which frequently suffers from shallow observations about the author’s astounding life.
Based in part on Kenneth Slawenski’s Salinger biography “J.D. Salinger: A Life,” “Rebel in the Rye” is mostly occupied with Salinger’s early years, specifically the period when which he conceived of Holden Caulfield and finally completed “The Catcher in the Rye.” Despite the focus on such a fertile period, it suffers from a meandering narrative and a jarring pace, particularly as it pushes on into his later years without bothering to age star Nicholas Hoult in the slightest.
Read More: The 2017 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview, And News...
Based in part on Kenneth Slawenski’s Salinger biography “J.D. Salinger: A Life,” “Rebel in the Rye” is mostly occupied with Salinger’s early years, specifically the period when which he conceived of Holden Caulfield and finally completed “The Catcher in the Rye.” Despite the focus on such a fertile period, it suffers from a meandering narrative and a jarring pace, particularly as it pushes on into his later years without bothering to age star Nicholas Hoult in the slightest.
Read More: The 2017 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview, And News...
- 1/26/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
An extremely conventional biopic about a wholly unconventional writer, Danny Strong's Rebel in the Rye focuses mainly on the stretch between J.D. Salinger's 1939 enrollment in a writing class at Columbia University and the immediate aftermath of his success with 1951's The Catcher in the Rye. Using a biography by Kenneth Slawenski as his guide, Strong — co-creator of the TV series Empire, making his feature directing debut — draws connections between life and art in ways many others have, but finds it hard to conjure his subject's passion for writing. Nicholas Hoult is sympathetic in the lead, whether he...
- 1/25/2017
- by John DeFore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“That phone call was one of the most exciting things, for me, in my career, at this point – and I've had a lot of neat stuff happen,” said Danny Strong of hearing his feature directorial debut got into the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. As the co-creator of Fox's blockbuster Empire, Strong now will see his Rebel In The Eye premiere at the Park City fest on January 24. Based on the Kenneth Slawenski biography J.D. Salinger: A Life, the Strong written and directed film stars…...
- 1/22/2017
- Deadline TV
“That phone call was one of the most exciting things, for me, in my career, at this point – and I've had a lot of neat stuff happen,” said Danny Strong of hearing his feature directorial debut got into the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. As the co-creator of Fox's blockbuster Empire, Strong now will see his Rebel In The Eye premiere at the Park City fest on January 24. Based on the Kenneth Slawenski biography J.D. Salinger: A Life, the Strong written and directed film stars…...
- 1/22/2017
- Deadline
Bloom handles international sales on the J.D. Salinger biopic that has begun principal photography in New York City.
Previously announced Nicholas Hoult, Kevin Spacey, Brian D’Arcy James, Victor Garber and Hope Davis star and Danny Strong directors from his adapted screenplay based on Kenneth Slawenski’s biography, J.D. Salinger: A Life.
Rebel In The Rye will recount the author’s rebellious youth, service in WWII, professional highs and lows, love and loss, and the Ptsd-fuelled writer’s block that led to The Catcher In The Rye.
Paulson, riding high on critical notices for her portrayal of prosecution attorney Marcia Clark in The People V. O.J. Simpson, will play Salinger’s fiercely loyal agent, Dorothy Olding.
Black Label Media is financing the project and Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill produce alongside Bruce Cohen, Jason Shuman, and Strong.
CAA represents North American rights.
Previously announced Nicholas Hoult, Kevin Spacey, Brian D’Arcy James, Victor Garber and Hope Davis star and Danny Strong directors from his adapted screenplay based on Kenneth Slawenski’s biography, J.D. Salinger: A Life.
Rebel In The Rye will recount the author’s rebellious youth, service in WWII, professional highs and lows, love and loss, and the Ptsd-fuelled writer’s block that led to The Catcher In The Rye.
Paulson, riding high on critical notices for her portrayal of prosecution attorney Marcia Clark in The People V. O.J. Simpson, will play Salinger’s fiercely loyal agent, Dorothy Olding.
Black Label Media is financing the project and Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill produce alongside Bruce Cohen, Jason Shuman, and Strong.
CAA represents North American rights.
- 4/26/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Sarah Paulson is set to join Nicholas Hoult, Kevin Spacey, Brian d'Arcy James, Victor Garber and Hope Davis in Danny Strong's J.D. Salinger biopic "Rebel in the Rye" at Black Label Media.
Adapted from Kenneth Slawenski's biography, the story will cover Salinger's rebellious youth, the bloody front lines of WW2, enduring great love and terrible loss, a life of rejection to the pages of The New Yorker, and the Ptsd-fuelled writer's block that led to the birth of his iconic book "The Catcher in the Rye."
Paulson will play Dorothy Olding, the agent who believed in the young Jerry Salinger from his earliest short stories and was fiercely loyal to him throughout his entire career. Paulson is coming off major acclaim for her work in FX's "The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story"
Strong is directing from his own script with filming now underway in New York City.
Adapted from Kenneth Slawenski's biography, the story will cover Salinger's rebellious youth, the bloody front lines of WW2, enduring great love and terrible loss, a life of rejection to the pages of The New Yorker, and the Ptsd-fuelled writer's block that led to the birth of his iconic book "The Catcher in the Rye."
Paulson will play Dorothy Olding, the agent who believed in the young Jerry Salinger from his earliest short stories and was fiercely loyal to him throughout his entire career. Paulson is coming off major acclaim for her work in FX's "The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story"
Strong is directing from his own script with filming now underway in New York City.
- 4/26/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Kevin Spacey will star alongside Nicholas Hoult in "Rebel In The Rye" for Black Label Media.
The story deals with the formative years of "The Catcher In The Rye" author J.D. Salinger with "Empire" executive producer Danny Strong directing from a script he adapted based on the Kenneth Slawenski biography.
Hoult was set last fall to play Salinger as he progressed toward writing the famous novel. Spacey will play Whit Burnett, a professor at Columbia and editor of Story magazine who became a mentor and was the first to challenge the young Salinger, inspiring him to grow as a storyteller.
Strong, Bruce Cohen, Jason Shuman, Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill are producing.
Source: Deadline...
The story deals with the formative years of "The Catcher In The Rye" author J.D. Salinger with "Empire" executive producer Danny Strong directing from a script he adapted based on the Kenneth Slawenski biography.
Hoult was set last fall to play Salinger as he progressed toward writing the famous novel. Spacey will play Whit Burnett, a professor at Columbia and editor of Story magazine who became a mentor and was the first to challenge the young Salinger, inspiring him to grow as a storyteller.
Strong, Bruce Cohen, Jason Shuman, Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill are producing.
Source: Deadline...
- 1/20/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Exclusive: Kevin Spacey has been set to star with Nicholas Hoult in Rebel In The Rye, the Black Label Media drama about the formative years of The Catcher In The Rye author J.D. Salinger. Empire exec producer Danny Strong is directing the script he adapted based on the Kenneth Slawenski biography Jd Salinger: A Life. Hoult was set last fall to play Salinger as he progressed toward writing the seminal novel of the 20th Century. Spacey will play Whit Burnett, a professor at…...
- 1/19/2016
- Deadline
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