Chasing Holden

Rating:
Summary: Bland Romantic Movie with Bite
Review: The movie was bland, and seems like a lifetime network movie reject, but yet it has an undeniable edge, because of the ending, and also the actors in the movie. rachel blanchard and dj qualls elevated this movie to five stars because of their superb acing abilities.

Rating:
Summary: Bland Romantic Movie with Bite
Review: The movie was bland, and seems like a lifetime network movie reject, but yet it has an undeniable edge, because of the ending, and also the actors in the movie. rachel blanchard and dj qualls elevated this movie to five stars because of their superb acing abilities.

Rating:
Summary: Best Coming of Age Movie Since Breaking Away
Review: This is a wonderful Coming of Age movie for young people age 13-17. The film is not some silly runaway to NYC story. It tells the good the bad and the ugly about the life of these 2 teens and how they met and their adventures. Somewhat sad story, but very thought provoking.

Rating:
Summary: Chaotic movie with a sad ending
Review: This movie is an emotional roller coaster from beginning to end. I am glad I saw the movie because I am, like most everyone, a fan of Catcher in the Rye, but the movie has a sad ending and makes you sad as well. Not a great movie if you are looking for something uplifting or frolicking, but an just okay film nonetheless.

Rating:
Summary: Well-Intentioned, But This Road Trip Goes Nowhere
Review: Two stars from the comedy film "Road Trip" -- D.J.Qualls and Rachel Blanchard (also famous as 'Cher' in TV's "Clueless") -- reunite for another journey to find the meaning of life. But this film is not a comedy. The new flavor added to this film is that Quall's character Neil is not a geekish student introduced for laugh; just see Neil's favorite book, which is J.D.Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye," and this film is as serious as the cynical protagonist of that book, Holden Caulfield.

"Chasing Holden" starts with an interesting premise. After short stint at an institute, Neil (who happens to be a son of governor of New York State) comes to a posh prep school where he is given an assignment by his English teacher (Sean Kanan, also writer of the iflm): "Write your own idea of what happened to Holden after the book ended." Can you do that? Holden as an adult? Holden working for some company?

Intriguing but impossible, I guess. Holden should be eternally the symbol of rebellious youth, you know that. So, Neil writes a letter to the author himself requesting the answer or clues, while as we know that Mr. Salinger has been refusing any contact with interviewers.

In the meanwhile, Neil becomes acquainted with a lovely and good-natured girl 'T.J.' T.J. understands him and his feelings, and in the middle of the night they leave the small town and its oppressive establishment behind, seeking for freedom. And the first place to go is, New York City.

I can say that this film is well-intentioned. Neil is too absorbed in the fictional character, and using this setting, the film's script seems to be trying to make an intelligent statement about this now classic book of American literature. Yes, I read that book when I was young, and I loved it, but not as much as Neil did. Suppose you got a life like Holden ... and suppose you know that too real. What would you do?

But, despite the good acting from the two leading actors, the whole result of the film is confusing and very weak. I point out only one mistake of the film: too many clithed episodes of the story. There are so many of them that in the middle of the story we forget Neil's original purpose of meeting the author Salinger. There is a gun unwisely stolen; there is a father who neglects his son, and so on. You know there is a secret the girl hides, and to make it worse, you know that too soon.

And I found the conclusion too incredible. One famous musician's life also somehow crept into the script, but its effort to wrap up the initially interesting story is far-fetched and unacceptable. The answer Neil gets after so many adventures is too obvious from the first -- like I said, it's something like a grown-up Holden. Nobody sees him, and nobody knows him. And like that idea, "Chasing Holden" is just too impossible -- except when Mr. Salinger shows up and tells HIS own story. That's the only way you can do "Chasing Holden."

Rating:
Summary: Well-Intentioned, But This Road Trip Goes Nowhere
Review: Two stars from the comedy film "Road Trip" -- D.J.Qualls and Rachel Blanchard (also famous as 'Cher' in TV's "Clueless") -- reunite for another journey to find the meaning of life. But this film is not a comedy. The new flavor added to this film is that Quall's character Neil is not a geekish student introduced for laugh; just see Neil's favorite book, which is J.D.Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye," and this film is as serious as the cynical protagonist of that book, Holden Caulfield.

"Chasing Holden" starts with an interesting premise. After short stint at an institute, Neil (who happens to be a son of governor of New York State) comes to a posh prep school where he is given an assignment by his English teacher (Sean Kanan, also writer of the iflm): "Write your own idea of what happened to Holden after the book ended." Can you do that? Holden as an adult? Holden working for some company?

Intriguing but impossible, I guess. Holden should be eternally the symbol of rebellious youth, you know that. So, Neil writes a letter to the author himself requesting the answer or clues, while as we know that Mr. Salinger has been refusing any contact with interviewers.

In the meanwhile, Neil becomes acquainted with a lovely and good-natured girl 'T.J.' T.J. understands him and his feelings, and in the middle of the night they leave the small town and its oppressive establishment behind, seeking for freedom. And the first place to go is, New York City.

I can say that this film is well-intentioned. Neil is too absorbed in the fictional character, and using this setting, the film's script seems to be trying to make an intelligent statement about this now classic book of American literature. Yes, I read that book when I was young, and I loved it, but not as much as Neil did. Suppose you got a life like Holden ... and suppose you know that too real. What would you do?

But, despite the good acting from the two leading actors, the whole result of the film is confusing and very weak. I point out only one mistake of the film: too many clithed episodes of the story. There are so many of them that in the middle of the story we forget Neil's original purpose of meeting the author Salinger. There is a gun unwisely stolen; there is a father who neglects his son, and so on. You know there is a secret the girl hides, and to make it worse, you know that too soon.

And I found the conclusion too incredible. One famous musician's life also somehow crept into the script, but its effort to wrap up the initially interesting story is far-fetched and unacceptable. The answer Neil gets after so many adventures is too obvious from the first -- like I said, it's something like a grown-up Holden. Nobody sees him, and nobody knows him. And like that idea, "Chasing Holden" is just too impossible -- except when Mr. Salinger shows up and tells HIS own story. That's the only way you can do "Chasing Holden."