For anyone who was ever curious about the genius behind one of the great novels of the twentieth century must see this film. It is truly revelatory and transformative.

Fascinating. Made the best with what little they had. But more telling are the omissions: Matthew (his son), his agent, his friends. Hated the dramatic music at the end with the revelations of new books. I don't believe it to be true. Two unnamed sources is not compelling. I don't believe they will come out in our lifetime. We waited 100 years for Twain's autobiography. Overall it was good for me, a Salinger diehard. But wish it were better and more balanced.

Watching this felt very exploitative of Salinger. I have conflicted feelings about my curiosity to learn more about Salinger and to respect his wishes for privacy; you won't learn anything here that you can't learn elsewhere. The low-brow re-enactments featuring a Salinger lookalike and soaring John Williams-esque music were awful. The filmmakers don't miss a chance to congratulate themselves: grand announcements of "never before seen" footage and pictures that reveal little about Salinger except that he was quite right to feel so much anger at the press and fans who would not leave him alone. The worst moment came at the end when the filmmakers announced what they believe to be the subject matter of the to-be-released unpublished writings, "verified by two separate sources." The interview with the D-Day survivor was heartbreaking but shed no new information on J.D. Salinger's war experiences. The Jean Miller interview was interesting, but could have just been a short TV special.