The latest effort in the literary mystery genre.
Since its debut in 1951, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has become the quintessential document of of frustrated youth, remaining one of the most profound and infamous works in all of literature. The book, as well as its protagonist Holden Caulfield, has achieved a level of fame no one could have predicted. Winona Ryder supposedly owns a copy of every edition and language in which it was published, and Mark David Chapman notoriously had a copy with him when the shot John Lennon. For years, Salinger refused to let any film adaptations of his most famous work be made, resulting in a number of reworked versions of the novel being filmed. The latest of these, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, may be the most telling as it manages to capture the spirit of Holden, the social consequences of the novel and the effect of both elements on its elusive author.
Jumping back and forth between eras, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall traces the journey of its title character (Logan Lerman), from his awkward teen years to success as an influential bestselling author as seen through his interactions with the girl next door (Elle Fanning), his complicated mom (Michelle Monaghan), his literary agent (Nathan Lane) and an admiring fan (Margaret Qualley). After a series of events resulting from his novel’s widespread popularity causes the troubled Sidney to disappear, a detective (Kyle Chandler) sets out on locating the missing author by investigating the reasons behind his vanishing.
One of the strongest features of The Vanishing Sidney Hall is the way co-writer/director Shawn Christensen is able to paint such distinct versions of his main character. We see high school Sidney as slightly sarcastic, fearless and curious about the world beyond his suburban confines. The wonderful coming-of-age moments juxtaposed with instances which show him to be wise beyond his years make Sindey feel real and fleshed out. When the audience meets adult Sidney he succumbs to feelings of cynicism and disillusionment after failing to accept of understand with the event of the past which led him there. In both eras of Sidney’s life, he is discovering his power as a writer. It is that power which he cannot control and as a result, retreats away from the world after he recognizes the power behind what he has written. Sidney’s disappearance and his life as a wandering recluse is his way of atoning for the consequences of his words.
The Vanishing of Sidney Hall can very well be classified as a literary mystery; by far one of the toughest genres to capture on the screen. The film offers up an honest and involving portrait of the tortured literary soul. This is a tale about the kind of ghosts which plague the literary mind and how they manifest themselves into one’s psyche. Sidney is never once glamorized or pitied, but rather explored as he tries in vain to maintain something of a stable hold on the shaky reality he finds himself in. When Sidney realizses he is ultimately unable to do this, he leaves. Eventually, the film takes things into the realm of the postmodern by forcing its audience to question which parts of the screenplay are actual reality and which are fractured illusions of Sidney’s own mental ghosts.
Even when the messy structure of the film’s screenplay threatens to overtake the proceedings, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall greatly benefits from its more than capable cast. Always one of the most stirring of young actors, Lerman turns in his finest performance to date. Very few actors could have physically embodied a character like Sidney in the various stages of his life, but Lerman is so in tune with the character’s journey and the events which have helped to shape it, that watching him embody each emotional era is the film’s greatest virtue. Kudos also goes to Fanning as Melody, Sidney’s muse who becomes the love of his life whom he is in danger of losing as a result of his self-destructiveness. Her handling of the character, from wide-eyed girl into a pragmatic young woman continues the actress’s remarkable screen evolution. Of the remaining cast, it’s Blake Jenner as Sidney’s quarterback classmate who bears a dark secret and Kyle Chandler as the detective on Sidney’s tail (whose own personal motives fuel his hunt) which add to the strength of the film.
For all its attributes and good intentions, a few aspects of The Vanishing of Sidney Hall keep it from reaching perfection. For one, the script tends to favor the abstract for too large a portion of its run time in an effort to keep its secrets closely held. This is in tune with the whiplash-like switching between the different periods in Sidney’s life; a tactic that has quickly worn out its welcome by the film’s midpoint. At points overscored and with a few too many climactic montages throughout, the movie greatly runs the risk of being labeled empty and pretentious were it not for its offbeat angles and shots as well as the theme which comprises its core. Literary sensation or restless teen, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall ultimately is a film about the dark, dangerous secrets we carry and their powerful grip on the human soul.
