Adam Sandler's Film Reign Over Me
Mike Bender's 9-11 Drama with Don Cheadle, Liv Tyler, Jada Pinkett
Apr 7, 2007
Reign Over Me stars Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle with Sandler playing Charlie Fineman, a former dentist who lost his entire family on 9-11. Cheadle plays Allen Johnson, a dentist who has his entire family and is growing weary of them. Mike Binder directs and writes.
Charlie, after losing his family, retreats into a nearly autistic state. He puts all his energy into collecting records and occasionally playing the drums in bars. He also constantly wears a pair of headphones listening to classic rock and drowning out the exterior world. Charlie’s loss, in other words has caused a type of derangement and the film, essentially, is about his recovery from this derangement.
Charlie meets his former college roommate Allen on the street and after a few false starts they rekindle the friendship they had when younger. The film wisely shows a window of profound, but limited, growth for Charlie who by the end of the film he has made steps toward transformation.
As it happens Adam Sandler gives his most admirable performance to date in this film. There is one scene in particular, where Charlie gives a long tear-filled monologue that would be very easy to butcher in the hands of the wrong actor. Sandler is dramatic but not morose, weeping but not weepy. It is really a tour de force. Sandler also delivers on the detached nature of the character; he displays the symptoms of post-traumatic stress convincingly without horrible mimicry.
There are flaws in the film, including the reintroduction of what becomes a potential romantic interest for Charlie that is inadvisable. The use of montage makes sense when dealing with characters going through changes over time but, after two or so montages, the audience has enough.These little problems are forgivable as the movie is affecting, often quite funny, and treats the tragedy of 9-11 in a personal and apolitical fashion that is admirable.
