Reign Over Me

last updated 8 January 2015

Reign Over Me is 'œbetter than you'd expect, but not as good as you'd like it to be,' said Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune. This is a very hard film to approach willingly: a 9/11 buddy dramedy starring Adam Sandler? It sounds like an exploitative disaster, but the talents of Sandler and his co-star, Don Cheadle, keep this movie tenuously afloat. Sandler plays Charlie Fineman, a former dentist who lost his family on Sept. 11 and has reverted into depressed adolescence. Cheadle is Alan Johnson, Fineman's former dentistry-school roommate who has since built a thriving practice and a perfect-looking family. After a chance meeting, the guys rekindle their friendship, said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. It's immensely interesting to watch these two help each other along—there are some moments of striking honesty and cutting insight. But these moments become fewer as the film goes on and director Mike Binder allows his worst instincts toward plot clutter and crass humor to take over. The movie's initial thoughtfulness and the graceful performance by Cheadle 'œare squandered in revelations and confrontations that belong in a made-for-TV weepie.' You need a talent for subtlety and respect for human beings to direct a film such as this one, said Peter Travers in Rolling Stone. Mike Binder has neither. 'œYou leave Reign Over Me feeling as if you've been crushed by an anvil.'

Rating: R