Walking along State towards 

the Diag last semester, simply 
put, was annoying. Though 
it sounds high maintenance, 
pedestrians had to backtrack 
to a crosswalk or jump into 
oncoming 
traffic 
to 
avoid 

the construction across from 
Walgreens. 
 
Finally, 
the 

construction 
has 
finished, 

revealing a shiny new and 
desperately needed coffee shop 
(a trendy, college town like Ann 
Arbor can never have too many. 
Not to mention, the coffee shop 
is smack dab in the middle of 
the rest of Ann Arbor’s most 

notable coffee shops.) As I 
pushed through the door, I was 
pleasantly surprised by the 
lack of formality. The shop has 
an urban, almost tech feel with 
futuristic blue lighting and 
intricately piped ceilings with 
black and gray accents. Their 
soundtrack was well chosen: 
not too Top 40s and not too 
weird. The top floor is well 
lit with natural light pouring 
through 
expansive, 
open 

windows along State street.

Their audience was diverse 

and, 
like 
the 
shop 
itself, 

approachable. 
Students 
and 

townies alike occupied the 
space. No pretentious pour 

over connoisseur misheard my 
nervous order, which would 
have 
made 
the 
experience 

awkward. Instead, a friendly 
barista more than happy to 
recommend his favorite drink 
greeted me upon walking in. 
Yet he clearly knew his way 
around all 15 Jamaican blends, 
off-brand Hydro Flasks, and 
aeropresses in front of him. 
Roasting Plant doesn’t try to 
be too cool for the University 
either, sporting M decals on 
their coffee dispensers. It was 
loud and busy, but not too 
loud to zone out and work on 
a project or hear the person 
sitting 
across 
from 
you. 

The tables are well spaced 
with padded seats, but even 
better, there were more than 
enough to host the consistent 
walk ins. The coffee is a bit 
expensive, but felt worth it to 
be surrounded by hundreds 
of 
blends 
and 
incredible 

ambiance. I personally don’t 
know much about the body 
of a blend or the difference 
between fruity and chocolatey 
notes, 
probably 
hindering 

my 
five 
dollar 
cold 
brew 

experience. Because of that, 
I’ll leave it at saying the coffee 
was good, but I also bought a 
grapefruit juice, which was 
phenomenal. Their forte really 
wasn’t their food and pastries 
but they did have a quinoa 

cookie with some vegan curb 
appeal.

The floor below held more 

seating and the descent into it 
felt like a scene from Tron. The 
blue lighting from the top takes 
over, geometrically tracing the 
wallpaper, wrapping around 
the room. The ceiling and 
furniture 
were 
matte 
and 

black. But the best part was 
that it was full of more seating.

My 
only 
gripe 
(much 

overlooked in light of its 
charms) was the feeble wifi 
below the top floor. 

Compared 
to 
the 
other 

popular spots around Ann 
Arbor, 
Roasting 
Plant 

Coffee Shop has become the 
frontrunner. Its atmosphere 

boasts personality like Literati 
but 
acceptance 
of 
every 

form of coffee shop goer like 
Starbucks. I also found a seat 
— not as common in Ann Arbor 
as you’d hope. Students use up 
crucial study time just making 
it to the coffee shop. On top of 
that, paying for Ann Arbor’s 
best coffee means giving your 
left hand for a 2 oz mocha. 
To pay that without a seat 
simply won’t do, so thank you 
Roasting Coffee Plant for the 
opportunity to drink amazing 
coffee and stay there to enjoy 
it. 

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, September 22, 2017 — 5
Arts

‘Rebel in the Rye’biopic 
lacks reason & relevancy 

IFC FILMS

Nicholas Hoult stars as JD Salinger in the new biopic

The J.D. Salinger biopic proves lackluster and forgettable 
with Nicholar Hoult and Kevin Spacey as its main stars

“Catcher in the Rye” is one 

of the seminal works in the 
American novel canon. It is 
a novel beloved by millions 
and read by almost everyone 
who receives an education in 
America. It is a book that will 
probably be remembered for 
as long as American culture 
is relevant. “Rebel in the 
Rye,” a by-the-numbers biopic 
written and directed by Danny 
Strong, (“The Hunger Games: 

Mockingjay”) will be lucky if 
its remembered at the end of 
this month.

Starring 
Nicholas 
Hoult 

(“X-Men: Apocalypse”) as the 
young and angry J.D. Salinger, 
the film follows its subject 
from a young age all the way 
through War World II and 
the eventual publication of 
“Catcher in the Rye.” The film 
takes aim at a wide swatch of 
Salinger’s life, and attempts 
to document his relationships 
with his parents, his romantic 
partnership with the daughter 
of Eugene O’Neill, as well 
his artistic nurturing at the 
hands of Whit Burnett (Kevin 
Spacey, “Baby Driver”). The 
problem is that in its attempt 
to cover as much of Salinger’s 

life as possible, the movie is 
unable to cover any one aspect 
of his life to a suitable degree 
of depth. All of the storylines 
feel slightly half-baked, and at 
times its tough not to wonder 
what a more specific version 
of this film might have looked 
like. Based on interviews with 
Strong from several years ago, 
it seems that originally this 
movie was to mostly focus on 
the war and how being involved 
in it affected Salinger and his 
future novel. While that aspect 
of the narrative is certainly 
a major part of “Rebel in the 
Rye,” it also seems like just 
one example of something that 
could’ve been explored much 
more thoroughly were it the 

specific focus of the film.

For their parts, both Hoult 

and Spacey are excellent in 
their roles as Salinger and 
Burnett, respectively. Many 
moments 
and 
scenes 
that 

are poorly written or would 
otherwise fall flat are still 
compelling 
simply 
because 

of the caliber of actor saying 
the words. Most of the other 
characters 
barely 
register, 

and the audience shouldn’t 
blame themselves if they don’t 
remember most of the scenes 
with 
Salinger’s 
parents 
or 

girlfriend after the fact. 

The overall look and design 

of the film is acceptable, with 
its period setting providing 
much of the fodder for the 
artistic design. That being 
said, like many other things 
in the film, the setting feels 
perfunctory, 
never 
fully 

being allowed to come into 
its own. In general the movie 
suffers from lack of artistic 

vision. 
The 
people 
behind 

the production were clearly 
more interested in a straight 
re-telling of the events of J.D. 
Salinger’s life then they were 
in saying anything particularly 
interesting, new, or profound 
about his life. At the end of 
the day, “Rebel in the Rye” 
just doesn’t have anything to 
say. Salinger devotees likely 
already know everything the 
movie has to offer and general 
audiences will be wondering 
why they should care. The 
biggest misstep of the entire 
film is that it ultimately fails 

to shine any new light on the 
subject that the movie is really 
driving towards, the “Catcher 
in the Rye.”

A 
more 
complex 
or 

interesting 
film 
might’ve 

drawn 
a 
parallel 
between 

Salinger writing the book and 
it’s reception and influence 
afterwards. A more complex 
or interesting film might’ve 
shown us how Salinger feels 
about the ways in which his 
book has been used and abused 
since it was published. A more 
complex or interesting film 
might have a single scene that 
is worth writing about. But 
unlike the story of Holden 
Caulfield, “Rebel in the Rye” is 
not complex or interesting, it is 
merely a boring dud.

“Rebel in the 

Rye”

IFC Films

Michigan 
Theater

IAN HARRIS
Daily Arts Writer

FILM REVIEW

Sean Yaeger/DAILY

Roasting Plsnt Coffee now open on South State
Roasting Plant Coffee the 
perfect addition to State
New coffee shop on South State has a casual, unpretentious 
atmosphere with great coffee, lots of space and good juice

SARAH AGNONE

Daily Arts Writer

Roasting 

Plant Coffee

312 S State 

St

Cafe

$$

COFFEE SHOP REVIEW

For their parts, 

both Hoult 

and Spacey are 
excellent in their 
roles as Salinger 

and Burnett, 
respectively

A more complex 

or interesting 

film might have a 
single scene that 
is worth writing 

about

The shop has an 
urban, tech feel 
with futuristic 
blue lighting and 
intricately piped 

ceilings with 
black accents

Its atmosphere 

boasts personality 

like Literati but 
acceptance of 
every form of 

coffee shop goer 
like Starbucks

CURRENTLY INTO CANNED PEACHES WITH COTTAGE CHEESE.

LET’S HERE IT FOR THE GIRLS.

E-mail arts@michigandaily.com for more hot takes and shout outs to the ladies

