Reviewing Rebel in the Rye, Danny Strong’s biopic about J.D. Salinger and the genesis of his exceptional novel The Catcher in the Rye, film critic Carrie Rickey states that «few movie genres are more challenging to the filmmaker than the literary biopic» (Truthdig, 8. Sept. 2017). On the whole, she finds the movie «singularly un-cinematic» and points out that «struggling for a new angle on the writer at his instrument, Strong puts the camera under Salinger’s typewriter, framing the writer’s face through the keys.»
Not quite true. We’ve seen something similar before … namely in Wim Wender’s semifictional biopic Hammett (based on Joe Gores’ novel by the same title).
