DVD Mini Review - Reign Over Me
I loved Mike Binder's The Upside of Anger and I really anticipated Reign Over Me. Unfortunately, Reign was not anywhere near as good as Upside.
The idea is a good one. Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle) is a successful dentist. But he seems to be very distant from his wife and children. Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler) is a former roommate of Alan's when they both went to dental school. Charlie's wife, children and dog were all killed on 9/11 - they were on the plane from Boston. The two meet up and Alan helps Charlie get through his grief. And in turn Charlie helps Alan get through some of his rough stuff as well. This should make for a very moving film. But it didn't.
One of the biggest problems in the film is Sandler. I really wanted to feel for him. And there were a few scenes in which I did. But for the most part he was just too loopy. I heard that that Tom Cruise was originally supposed to play the role. I think that he would have been a better choice.
Cheadle gives the best performance in the film (he is always great). But there are some aspects of his character that just doesn't ring true. For instance, one of his patients, a woman named Donna Remar (Saffron Burrows) lusts after him. And it appears that she is not the first one. Binder wrote this part for Javier Bardem and perhaps it would have felt more real if he played the Alan character. But with Cheadle is feels so wrong. The truth of the matter is that the Donna character adds nothing to the story and should have been left out.
Jada Pinkett Smith as Alan's wife Janeane and Liv Tyler as psychiatrist Angela Oakhurst do the best that they can with their underwritten roles. On the plus side I loved how Binder captured NYC on film. And the soundtrack is wonderful.
Reign Over Me is not a terrible film. But I wouldn't say that it is really good either. With themes such as coping with grief and male friendship in the mix this had the potential to be something special. But it isn't. Let's hope that for his next film Binder makes some better decisions in regard to what he puts in his script and who he chooses to be in the film.
The idea is a good one. Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle) is a successful dentist. But he seems to be very distant from his wife and children. Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler) is a former roommate of Alan's when they both went to dental school. Charlie's wife, children and dog were all killed on 9/11 - they were on the plane from Boston. The two meet up and Alan helps Charlie get through his grief. And in turn Charlie helps Alan get through some of his rough stuff as well. This should make for a very moving film. But it didn't.
One of the biggest problems in the film is Sandler. I really wanted to feel for him. And there were a few scenes in which I did. But for the most part he was just too loopy. I heard that that Tom Cruise was originally supposed to play the role. I think that he would have been a better choice.
Cheadle gives the best performance in the film (he is always great). But there are some aspects of his character that just doesn't ring true. For instance, one of his patients, a woman named Donna Remar (Saffron Burrows) lusts after him. And it appears that she is not the first one. Binder wrote this part for Javier Bardem and perhaps it would have felt more real if he played the Alan character. But with Cheadle is feels so wrong. The truth of the matter is that the Donna character adds nothing to the story and should have been left out.
Jada Pinkett Smith as Alan's wife Janeane and Liv Tyler as psychiatrist Angela Oakhurst do the best that they can with their underwritten roles. On the plus side I loved how Binder captured NYC on film. And the soundtrack is wonderful.
Reign Over Me is not a terrible film. But I wouldn't say that it is really good either. With themes such as coping with grief and male friendship in the mix this had the potential to be something special. But it isn't. Let's hope that for his next film Binder makes some better decisions in regard to what he puts in his script and who he chooses to be in the film.
posted by Film Fanatic | 7:26 PM
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