The first time we encounter Joanna Rakoff (Margaret Qualley) is on a quiet New York City street towards the end of 1995. It doesn’t take long for us to get to know her – she’s currently finishing her Master’s degree in English Literature, and has come to the city to visit an old friend for a week. However, this visit turns into more of a residency, especially since Joanna is very clearly against returning to Berkeley, where she was finishing her studies. Deciding to leave her old life behind, and pursue her dreams of being a writer, she begins looking for jobs, and despite being very qualified (and more importantly, incredibly eager to work), very few potential employers are willing to take her on. “Writers make terrible assistants” is a refrain she hears far too often, but it’s enough to give her the ambition to find the right job that will allow her the freedom to express herself on her own terms, while still immersing herself in the world she adores. Her salvation comes in the form of Margaret (Sigourney Weaver), a prickly and cynical literary agent who is initially very reluctant to hire Joanna, but sees some promise in the young woman, finding her ambition quite endearing, as well as her work ethic. What Joanna doesn’t realize is that Margaret is actually quite a prominent agent, with her primary client being “Jerry”, who Joanna is aghast to discover is actually reclusive author J.D. Salinger, the famed author of The Catcher in the Rye, and one of literature’s most enigmatic geniuses. Part of Joanna’s job is to read all of Salinger’s fan-mail (since he refuses to accept this kind of mail from anyone), and respond with one of the many form-letters she is given to copy. However, she realizes that she may not be cut out for this brutal career, since her empathy drives her to make some hasty decisions – but every time she considers retreating, she realizes how positive such an environment can be, and under the tough but effective tutelage of Margaret, who has been around the block a few times, Joanna learns the importance of tenacity, and the power of holding on for another day.

They don’t really make films like My Salinger Year another, Philippe Falardeau’s masterful adaptation of the memoir by Joanna Rakoff, who gives a firsthand account of her time working for a literary agency, where the most notable client was J.D. Salinger, who had almost entirely retreated from public view, and now only communicated through official channels, such as his agents. An elegant, precise drama anchored with simple but effective performances and capturing a tone that speaks to the mentalities of previous decades in filmmaking, My Salinger Year is quite a special film, albeit one that wears its heart on its sleeve, and takes the viewer into the fond memories of a young woman who is commenting on her short but impactful time working under one of the most notable authors in the English language. Delightful and often very funny, but constructed with an honesty that mostly exists in the biographical dramas of bygone eras, where these simple accounts of the trials and tribulations of the rich and famous (or in this case, the invisible majority that served under them) made for such captivating cinema, this film is quite a fascinating work, demonstrating a candour that is almost single-handedly returning us to a time where such straightforward narratives couldn’t only freely exist, but still move audiences to look deeper into these stories and find the meaning underpinning them. Entertaining in the way that we simply don’t see all that often anymore, where the story can be driven by the warm humour and sweetly sentimental nature (bordering on saccharine), rather than striving to be highly-conceptual or overly prosaic in how it looks into this story, My Salinger Year is a solid little drama that carries an immense sense of heartfulness, which is always encouraging to see in more contemporary attempts to cover such tricky material.

At the heart of My Salinger Year are two dynamic performances that are wonderful on their own, but really come into their own when put against each other. Margaret Qualley, one of the most promising young actresses working at the moment, leads the film in a performance that could’ve easily have just been built on her quirky charms, but instead complements something deeper within her as an actress, a kind of raw honesty that is quite refreshing to see, especially in a cinematic landscape that is starting to embrace a wide range of interesting young performers. Qualley’s youthful innocence is sharply contrasted with the weathered wisdom of Sigourney Weaver, who is giving arguably her best performance in over a decade, playing the strict but kindhearted literary agent who takes in a young woman essentially off the street, and immerses her in a cutthroat world, and helps guide her through it. Weaver is one of those actresses who has chemistry with absolutely anyone, and acting opposite Qualley brings out a fascinating dynamic in the two actresses, who give authentic, honest performances that are magnified by their dedication to the roles. Without their spirited work, My Salinger Year would’ve most certainly fallen apart, since so much of it is built on their relationship, and as the film progresses, and we see their personalities begin to adjust to the person across from them, the more we realize how intricately woven-together these characters are, and the depth that the two leads lend to them. Subtle, but in ways that work perfectly in the context of this story, Qualley and Weaver are absolutely magnetic, and sell absolutely every moment of this otherwise simple film.

There’s a certain sophistication to My Salinger Year that comes about as a result of its candour, and its interesting use of conventions. At a cursory glance, this film seems to be marketed to a very niche audience, those that derive pleasure from seeing such simple stories portrayed on screen, and particularly those with a taste for tales of the literary world. In many ways, My Salinger Year operates as a backstage drama set into the world of literary agents, set in a time in which they yielded much more power than they do today. For those who are inherently fascinated by such low-key, simple narratives, this film offers everything we could expect. However, it’s in the quieter moments, when it slowly absconds from simply being a story of the young woman who inadvertently find herself befriending one of America’s most reclusive artists, we start to see the underlying complexities, the intricacies that underpin the film and give it the nuance it needs to be boosted well above the confines of an overly simplistic drama. Philippe Falardeau’s films tend to have a sense of humanistic control lingering over them, developed beyond the fundamental limits of the story. They’re driven by their characters, who are placed in situations where they need to overcome obstacles – and while My Salinger Year is certainly not a film about a very relatable kind of adversity (since it essentially centres on a young woman feeling conflicted between a well-paying, high-profile job, and pursuing her dreams of becoming a writer), there is an honesty to it that goes above and beyond what we see on the surface, which makes it such a delightful, and often exceptionally moving, piece of filmmaking.

Some may consider My Salinger Year to be low on energy, when in reality, it’s simply executing its central story with a quiet elegance that starts off slow, but gradually builds to a stunningly beautiful crescendo that is as fascinating as it is thoroughly compelling. This is the kind of film that flies too low under the radar – it certainly is seen by those who are inherently drawn to it, but it’s not likely to find an audience outside of those who have an interest in the subject matter, or this brand of very quiet, intimate drama that doesn’t carry much of a message, nor convey any particular meaning, but instead just tells an enthralling story through strong performances and a lot of heart. However, My Salinger Year deserves so much more than to fade into obscurity, especially when there is something genuinely moving about the ways in which the director works with his cast to bring this story to life, and finding the authenticity in a story that is centered around the myth surrounding one of literature’s most famous recluses, a man whose entire existence is mostly based around his most popular novel inspiring generations of readers, who himself has retreated into the shadows, a figure obscured by his own legend, almost as if he is basking in the enigma he has created for himself. It is often said that The Catcher in the Rye is a film that can’t ever been turned into a film for a number of reasons, all of which are certainly relevant – so it stands to reason that My Salinger Year is the closest we will get to penetrating the importance of this novel on screen – and for many reasons, that seems strangely appropriate. Solid, honest and meaningful, this film is a delightful diversion, and a wonderfully simple glimpse into the legacy of a writer whose very existence is just as mysterious as the work that it produced.