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"Hey Sandler, Your
Hair Called. It
Wants its Brush Back." |
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Directed by Mike Binder
- Written by Mike Binder
Starring Adam Sandler,
Don Cheadle, Jada
Pinkett Smith, Saffron
Burrows
Cicely Tyson, Robert
Klein, Liv Tyler,
Melinda Dillon, Mike
Binder, Ted Raimi
Distributed by Sony -
2007 - 124m - Rated R |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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A- |
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I found myself sobbing. |
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Have you ever lost a
loved one due to a senseless act of violence or incomprehensible
tragedy? A spouse? A child? A parent, perhaps?
"Reign Over Me," the latest film from writer/director Mike Binder
("The Upside of Anger"), is the story of two men, Alan (Don Cheadle)
and Charlie (Adam Sandler), who were once college roommates and now,
years later, have their paths cross once again with Charlie living
in a lonely, isolative and tragic world surrounded by the memory of
his wife, three daughters and dog who were killed during the 9/11
attacks in New York City.
Despite the apparent contrast between these two lead characters, one
a successful dentist and family man and the other a man who has
thrown away his entire career while drowning in grief and guilt, it
becomes quickly even more apparent that both of these men are
struggling to cope with the choices they have made and the
circumstances in which they find themselves living. While Charlie's
tragic circumstances are more readily apparent, there is no denying
that Alan and Charlie find in each other a bridge to the way life
used to be and, in turn, a place deep within where it just may be
safe enough to rediscover hope.
I cannot deny that I found myself sobbing within a few minutes of
watching Charlie onscreen. As Charlie withdrew, isolated, avoided,
flashed back, remembered, exploded and so painfully ached, I found
myself remembering vividly those emotions I experienced myself
around the loss of innocence from childhood sexual abuse, the
untimely death of my own daughter and the overall rage and guilt and
despair and hopelessness that still, at times, swallows me up and
refuses to spit me out.
Thus, it is both as a survivor and as a film critic that I write
these words and thoughts and feelings. As I write these words, I
find myself still physically aching from the physical tension and
waves of emotion that flooded over me as I watched scene after scene
of Charlie's interactions with Alan and others within his peripheral
vision. Charlie simultaneously is blinded to the world around him
yet overwhelmed by sensory experiences that serve as constant
reminders of the life he once had and circumstances over which he
had no control.
In P.T. Anderson's remarkably powerful "Punch-Drunk Love," Sandler
became an actor. Anderson discovered a way to tap into Sandler's
innocence and crage in creating one of the last decade's most
memorable characters. As Charlie, Sandler never hits a wrong note
with a character that taps less into Sandler's quirkiness and more
into the lovable vulnerability that has long made even Sandler's
silliest comedies occasionally heartwarming. This stunning
vulnerability is on remarkable display in a monologue by Sandler
near the film's end that is mesmerizing both for Sandler's
performance and for Binder's wise choice to have both Cheadle and
Liv Tyler, as a psychiatrist, simply sitting there in utter silence.
Sandler, who received a Golden Globe nomination in 2003 for his work
in "Punch-Drunk Love," should most definitely be remembered again
come awards season.
As the seemingly more stable of the two, the Oscar-winning Cheadle
offers his usual focused, complex performance while blending
perfectly with Sandler's Charlie. Cheadle offers the film a steady
presence, but he's also comfortable enough to become vulnerable,
intimate, goofy and even a bit angry by film's end. With the nearly
overwhelming grief of Charlie dominating, Cheadle wisely underplays
his more intimate grief.
Writer/Director Mike Binder continues to show a remarkable gift for
developing authentic conflict cinematically, while also displaying a
knack for writing characters who behave believably in unbelievable
circumstances.
In some ways, "Reign Over Me" is very reminiscent of Spike Lee's
similarly powerful yet intimately drawn "25th Hour." "25th Hour,"
one of the first post-9/11 New York City based films to really
address the intimacy of grief, was perhaps more powerful because it
addressed people's lives after 9/11 rather than becoming a film
solely about 9/11. Cheadle himself has openly admitted in interviews
that he questioned whether the 9/11 storyline was even needed for
"Reign Over Me."
It's a legitimate discussion because "Reign Over Me" isn't about
9/11...it's about New Yorkers, some of whom had their lives
devastated by the events on 9/11 and others whose lives went on in
all their glorious imperfection. The film, filmed in New York City
and California, even feels intimate in the way it weaves itself
throughout the streets of New York City.
In a sense, the film seems to be both a reverent tribute to the
survivors of 9/11 and also an acknowledgement that we cannot forget
those who grieve in other ways for other losses in our everyday
lives.
Binder has, by his own admission, had a hit-and-miss career as a
director throughout his nine films. It is the very qualities that
one can find maddening about Binder that ultimately work together to
make "Reign Over Me" such a memorable film.
While Binder's films often feel a bit disconnected, it is this sense
of spontaneity and life that create a marvelously rich and
exhilarating spirit even within the most painful moments of "Reign
Over Me." While it's easy to question the appropriateness of
Binder's usual cameo or the occasionally awkward grounds upon which
he builds a companion storyline with Donna, young woman (Saffron
Burrows) who accuses Alan of sexual harassment, to completely
dismiss these scenes would be to too quickly dismiss the often
spontaneous, unpredictable and irreverent nature of the healing
journey.
While "Reign Over Me" may not always feel grounded in reality, how
realistic is it to think about two airplanes taking down the World
Trade Center?
Sometimes, reality is overrated.
After Sandler's magnificent monologue towards the film's end, the
film too quickly speeds its way through resolution including
resolving family conflicts, addressing legal issues and, perhaps
most awkwardly, introducing the potential for Charlie and the
previously mentioned Donna to find connection. While the idea of
innocent, heartfelt connection for Charlie is a positive resolution,
it's hard to completely ignore the obvious disregard for
confidentiality that allowed Donna to be integrated into the
scenario.
Jada Pinkett Smith, as Alan's needy yet equally hurting wife and
Robert Klein along with Melinda Dillon as Charlie's in-laws all
offer decent performances in smaller, more lightly developed roles
while Donald Sutherland shines in a brief appearance as a judge who
sees beyond the masquerade of justice.
The film's cinematography is stellar and, again, reminiscent of
"25th Hour," while other aspects of the film's production design
also excel. Much has been written about Sandler's rather uncanny
resemblance to Bob Dylan in the film, a fact that is particularly
noteworthy since the film beautifully incorporates lyrically and
musically appropriate scenes and Charlie seems to withdraw most
safely into an iPod that seems to express feelings he keeps locked
inside.
There are moments in life we never forget. Moments of great joy and
moments of great sorrow. Then, there are those moments that go
beyond being merely memorable...they become the moments that shape
our minds, our thoughts, our hearts and the rest of our lives. When
Charlie, in one particularly powerful scene retreats into his own
world singing along with The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me," it becomes
clear that "Reign Over Me" isn't a film about 9/11 or tragedy or
hurt or grief or rage...it's about the ways in which we crawl
through the ashes of our lives and seek to rebuild the bridges of
hope that connect us to one another even when hope is the last thing
in the world to even make sense.
I am sobbing. But...I am alive. |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
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