My Salinger Year is a sweet, delightful film, and you do not need to have read the book to enjoy it. The plot is fairly thin. In the mid-90s, Joanna (Margaret Qualley) visits a friend in New York, and decides to stay there, leaving her life in California behind. What Joanna would really like to do is write, but she also has to pay the bills. She gets a job as an assistant at a literary agency, working for Sigourney Weaver. The catch here is Weaver's biggest client is J. D. Salinger, the famously reclusive writer. He gets hundreds of letters from fans, but the agency has been instructed not to pass them on, and instead respond to each letter with a form indicating that Mr. Salinger will never see it. Despite this, Joanna begins personally responding to certain letters with unintended results. Also, Joanna picks up a mediocre boyfriend, ponders life and following a tragedy involving her boss, gains the courage to move to the next stage of her life.
Overall, this was an enjoyable movie. There was no particular deep meaning to any of it, and you might say the movie relies a little too heavily on the Salinger gimmick. However, Qualley is wonderfully engaging in her role, and Sigourney Weaver is clearly living her best life. The movie has a nice supporting cast as well. I'd very much recommend it for a rainy day or a movie night.
Overall, this was an enjoyable movie. There was no particular deep meaning to any of it, and you might say the movie relies a little too heavily on the Salinger gimmick. However, Qualley is wonderfully engaging in her role, and Sigourney Weaver is clearly living her best life. The movie has a nice supporting cast as well. I'd very much recommend it for a rainy day or a movie night.