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Reign Over Me is a charming, affecting tale of friendship and loss, with solid performances from Adam Sandler as a broken, grief-stricken man and Don Cheadle as his old friend and savior. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler), who lost his family in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, still grieves over their deaths. He runs into his former college roommate, Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle), and the two rekindle their friendship. Alan himself is feeling the strain of family and professional responsibilities, and his renewed bond with Charlie gives both men the strength to carry on during a turning point in their lives.
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Rating: R (Some Sexual References|Language)
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Genre: Drama
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Original Language: English
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Director: Mike Binder
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Producer: Michael Rotenberg
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Writer: Mike Binder
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Release Date (Theaters): wide
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $19.7M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: Sony Pictures Entertainment
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Production Co: 3 Arts Entertainment, Sunlight Productions
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Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
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Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)
Cast & Crew
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Critic Reviews for Reign Over Me
Audience Reviews for Reign Over Me
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The script is what brings Reign Over Me down. The acting through each individual scene is fine. The problem is that the story is so mixed up that one never knows what to think or feel, doesn't know where it is going, and feels no resolution at the end. The pieces don't fit together. It could be argued that life is like that. Sure, but the movie is not filmed in such a style. The style leads you to expect something more uplifting (even if it's unrealistic).
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How many dramatic roles has Adam Sandler done now? With Punch Drunk Love, this film, and Spanglish, which had comedic aspects, that makes 3 films in his entire career where Sandler decided to get serious. To be perfectly honest, while I don't think he's great, there are some scenes where he shows some promise as a dramatic actor. Perhaps he wouldn't ever reach the greatness of a Daniel Day Lewis. He'd be several notches below that, and I don't think I'd really trust him to carry a dramatic film on his sole performance alone, he'd be better as part of an ensemble where there's not as much pressure on him to perform. But he shows some promise. There's this one scene, you'll know the one, where he finally reveals to Alan what he's kept to himself for all the years since the events that took his family. This is the real highlight of the film, from Sandler's standpoint at least. The other scene where his acting stands out is when he finds himself pointing the gun at the police officers in an effort to get himself killed. There's a certain way to how he carries himself in this scene that shows that the grief he's carried over the years have finally taken their toll on him and his psyche, the breaking point being finally opening up to Alan about what happened. I thought Sandler handled this scene quite well. He has finally been crushed under the weight of his grief. I don't think that's something that easy to pull off. There were no other options for Charlie and that's a testament to Sandler, can't take anything away from him there. However, there's other moments in the film where he's not so good, when he raises his voice in anger. This doesn't work, because it's the same voice he uses for comedic effects in his comedy films. So it's hard, for me, to take him seriously when he does this. There's other moments of the film where he just feels like a muppet, someone to be pitied and feel sorry for instead of someone going through a very intense period of grief. I don't think the film properly explores what grief can do to a person, since Charlie, while the focus of the film and its story, isn't exactly the main character. He's treated as such, but he's really not. Even with that, though, I still found this movie to be good, not great. I think there's a great film to be had here if you get past the sentimental aspects of the film. But, because of that, the film can feel a little exploitative at times. The film is never offensive, in my opinion, but it feels that they're using a real-life tragedy to tell a story that didn't really need it. Grief is grief, there's no one way to tell a story about a person's grief over having lost loved ones. Literally, it could've been done any other way. Burglary gone wrong, drunk driving. Hell you could even go with a train crash. Anything else. But, for some reason, it had to be 9/11. There's no real reason for why it had to be this way to be honest. If at least it made sense in the context of the story, but it doesn't. But I digress, that's neither here nor there. The film is still pretty good all things considered. Got a good story and some solid acting, even if Sandler isn't always consistent, Don Cheadle is. Wish it would've gone more in-depth into this character, but it was not to be. Still, this is a perfectly good Netflix watch.
jesse o Super Reviewer -
Reign Over Me is a powerful and timely film that deals with some controversial and sensitive issues. The story follows a struggling family man named Alan Johnson who rekindles an old friendship with a college roommate who's suffering from severe PTSD after the loss of his wife and children in the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. The film does an impressive job at depicting the challenges of mental illness and at showing how it affects those around them. Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler lead the cast and deliver excellent performances. And they're helped out by a strong supporting cast that includes Saffron Burrows, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland. Reign Over Me gets a little overdramatic at times, but delivers a compelling look at the bonds of friendship.
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Cheadle and Sandler try their best on this interesting story but everything falls flat on a very uneven script that makes some twists and turns that don't make much sense given the story arcs of the characters.
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