The wonderful Margaret Qualley confirms that she has well and truly arrived as one of Hollywood’s biggest rising stars in this completely absorbing true story of an aspiring writer who takes an office job within the agency representing legendary ‘Catcher in the Rye’ author J.D. Salinger.
My Salinger Year sees Qualley play the lead as Joanna Rakoff, a twenty-something in 1995 New York who, fresh out of college, manages to bag a job at a literary agency, one that looks after or has looked after, the interests of the likes of Dylan Thomas, Agatha Christie and J.D. Salinger, the author of the likes of ‘Catcher in the Rye’ and ‘Franny and Zooey’. While her stay in New York was originally set to last just a few days, Rakoff sees herself settle in for much longer, staying in the spare room of a friend before getting together with a fellow writer-wannabee Don (Douglas Booth). Her days are spent dealing with the piles of fan mail received for Salinger, as well as taking calls for her busy boss Margaret (Sigourney Weaver).
The film charts Rakoff’s journey at the agency, a true story based on Rakoff’s own experiences, confidently adapted for the big screen from her memoir by Canadian writer and director Philippe Falardeau.
It’s a wonderful piece of work from Falardeau, whose last film was the Liev Schreiber-led The Bleeder (aka Chuck), a film I also took to. This is a very different piece, possibly the only similarities being that it is based on a true story and that it is full of excellent performances. Qualley is the clear stand-out, the young actor fresh from her similarly decent turn in Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood. Here she is given the film to showcase her wonderful talents and lights up the screen in virtually every scene she’s in – which is pretty much every single scene in the entire piece. Booth is wonderful as Don, too, as is Weaver in a strong turn as the agency boss – two characters who could have so easily come across in a much more cliched way had they not been as well-written or performed. There’s further strong support from the likes of Colm Feore as the likable Daniel, and also Yanic Truesdale and Hamza Haq as the forgotten boyfriend, Karl.
My Salinger Year strikes the right balance in terms of tone, offering just the right amount of drama and humour throughout, the viewer engaged for its complete 100-minute or so run time. It handles the inclusion of Salinger himself well, while also keeps a certain mystery to the reclusive figure.
I’ll carefully offer the cliché that My New York Year is like a good book; a film to let yourself be absorbed by and a massive calling card for rising star Qualley.
My New York Year was originally reviewed at the 2020 Berlinale. It is now playing in cinemas.
My New York Year
Summary
A strong leading role for Margaret Qualley with strong support from the likes of Weaver. An absorbing piece of work.
