Reign Over Me

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Take then a dentist with a thriving practice. Married, with three beautiful daughters, and a poodle to boot. Now take that all away. Take it away by having your entire family on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. That’s what happened to Charlie Fineman in “Reign Over Me”.

In a rare dramatic role, Adam Sandler plays Charlie, a man who seems to have lost everything (including his mind) after the events of September 11, 2001. Don Cheadle plays his old college roommate Alan Johnson. Now a successful dentist, married and with two kids, Alan bumps into Charlie after a long time, and is surprised his old friend barely remembers him. Even as Alan tries to balance his life with wife Janeane (Jada Pinkett Smith), an inappropriate sexual advance by a patient (Saffron Burrows), and his medical partners, he also wants to check how Charlie is now. Unfortunately Charlie doesn’t act like he even remembers his old life, instead fixing and destroying the kitchen in his condo every few weeks. Can Alan bring his friend back to the real world without opening up old wounds?

When I picked up this DVD, I’ll admit that the first thing that got my attention was its stars. I’ve long been a fan of Sandler’s comedy and I really like Cheadle’s acting choices. I was a bit surprised at how heavy the subject matter turned out to be, but it was a pleasant kind of surprise. Cheadle and Smith again bring on the acting that has gotten them attention in the past. Their story of a marriage that looks ideal, but is actually dominated by the wife provides both actors with material to mesh with each other. Even cameos by Robert Klein and Melinda Dillon as Charlie’s estranged in-laws gave us strong performances, particularly when Charlie attempts an awkward reconciliation with them late in the film.

I’ve never really been a Saffron Burrows fan, but her manic and depressed dental patient here was quirky enough that you actually sympathized with her plight. Liv Tyler plays Alan’s friend and Charlie’s new psychiatrist Angela Oakhurst, and we are treated to the acting that once made Tyler one of Hollywood’s hot new actresses. Though she has noticeably aged since then, her quiet, controlled acting serves as a good counterpoint to Sandler’s necessary over-the-top neurosis.

More than any other actor in this film, it is Adam Sandler who provides the good stuff. For a man who is more famous for punching Bob Barker and playing a semi-retarded football player onscreen, this was truly a shocker from “The Waterboy”. All the pain that Charlie has chosen to bury or forget just explodes out of Sandler the second he even thinks that somebody is trying to psychoanalyze him. It’s raw, it’s uncomfortable, and it feels real. When Charlie opens up to Alan and realizes that this man may be the only real friend he has, you’re riveted to the screen as he recalls how his life and loved ones were taken away in a flash.

Director Mike Binder gives us a funny, poignant, and painful account of how the tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks could literally shatter a person’s life. As Charlie’s psyche seems irreparable, even as his in-laws and Alan try to reach out to him, we get the sense that Charlie would rather not live in the present, preferring instead to live when his loved ones were still close to him. I heard from a friend that Adam Sandler almost got Oscar consideration for this portrayal, and it’s easy to see why. Yes, I still love seeing him acting like a retard making funny voices or trying to be charming in romantic comedies. However it’s also nice to know that this guy’s actually got a little more depth in his acting repertoire and is doesn’t look like a forced effort.