Cynical Cinema

Reign Over Me is the type of movie that could very easily end up as a giant pile of maudlin sentimentality, one of those feel-bad-then-feel-good movies that irritate me so much.  Like The Pursuit Of Happyness, or The Green Mile.  In this case, it’s a little more visceral, 9/11 being something that touched everyone, so on a certain level we get it.  But what makes this movie great is that it doesn’t dwell on the “9/11“ part of the story, but rather the aftermath.  Adam Sandler plays a guy who was successful and happy until his family were all killed during the terrorist attacks.  But the fact that they died on September 11th really has nothing to do with the film.  It just gives us a reference point.  They could have died in a car crash, or a house fire, and it would have been the same.  It’s about a man who is incapable of dealing with his grief, and Sandler is terrific.

Come to think of it, is it maybe time that Adam Sandler gives up on comedy altogether?  His last few comedies have been dreadful (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry?  Come ON).  In fact, outside Happy Gilmore, I can’t remember genuinely laughing through any of his comedies.  And yet, when he gets a chance to be an actual actor, like in Punch Drunk Love, he is very good!  And maybe he is capable only of playing damaged human beings, as he did in that movie and this one, but it’s surely a lot better than anything else he does.  Look at Robin Williams.  He made - what…ONE good comedy?  And yet he too is known as a “comic actor”.  Aside from Mrs. Doubtfire, I can’t think of a single good Robin Williams comedy.  And yet I can think of several good Robin Williams movies.  If he didn’t do that maniac crazy stand-up and those maniac crazy interviews, he could perhaps be known for Good Will Hunting, and Dead Poets Society, and One Hour Photo.  But no, he will always be identified with Popeye and RV and Fathers Day and Death To Smoochy.  Which is, frankly, a painful legacy.  Sandler is still young enough to reverse the trend and do some quality work, the way Jim Carrey is (trying to) do.

There are a few other things that make Reign Over Me great.  Of course, Don Cheadle, who is always terrific.  He plays Sandler’s old college roommate, who runs into him on the street and attempts to rekindle their friendship.  Cheadle is damaged in his own way, and Sandler’s character becomes a few things for him.  A source of comfort, I think, in the sense that “at least my life isn’t this”, a source of envy - “this guy can do whatever he wants, and no one will complain”, and a charity case.  Cheadle wants to help him, and it’s a genuine desire, but it’s still a charity case.  Also the music.  OK, I have a soft spot for The Who (Reign O’er Me), and the classic rock references throughout the movie are terrific - the scene where Adam Sandler berates a faux-Bob Seger fan is priceless.  And the references to Quadrophenia are peppered throughout the film, with the song Regin O’er Me figuring prominently several times.  Once you’ve watched this movie, you will never hear that song the same way again.