Adam Sandler takes on one of his rare dramatic roles in "Reign Over Me," playing a man suffering from acute post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by the loss of his wife and daughters on 9/11. Once a successful dentist, Charlie Fineman has now retreated to a world of his own, cut off from friends, family members and even the memories of his old life. Don Cheadle plays Alan Johnson, Charlie's former college roommate with a successful dental practice of his own who runs into Charlie on the street one day and slowly, tentatively offers him the hand of friendship. The movie chronicles the slow but steady healing process that takes place as a result of that friendship.
Given the setup, one wouldn't expect Alan to turn out to be the more complex, layered and compelling of the two characters. But in writer/director Mike Binder's gifted hands, we come to see that Alan is struggling every bit as much as Charlie is with his own set of weaknesses, insecurities and inadequacies, albeit not in so obvious a fashion. For the major difference between Alan and Charlie is that Alan can at least manage to hold his life together and remain a productive adult while Charlie clearly cannot. Is Alan drawn to Charlie because he sincerely wants to help him, or is he drawn to him because, in some strange way, he envies the freedom that Charlie's dysfunctional life affords him? Or is it a little of both? The beauty of the character - and of Cheadle's magnificently rich interpretation of him - is that we never really know the answer to those questions.
Binder is notably less successful at getting into Charlie's head, partly because Sandler's performance, while not bad, lacks the subtle shadings we find in Cheadle's. Still, there are moments in which Sandler effectively captures the heartbreaking pain that his character is going through. The movie also boasts very fine work from Jada Pinkett Smith, as Alan's wife; Melinda Dillon as Charlie's concerned mother-in-law; Saffron Burrows as a mentally disturbed patient who comes on to Alan in his office; Liv Tyler as a compassionate psychiatrist; and Paula Newsome as Alan's sassy office receptionist who provides some much needed humor to lighten the load.
The movie could be criticized for having a few too many subplots cluttering up the main storyline, but I argue that it is those very subplots that are indispensable to the movie since they help to flesh out Alan's character and world. It's true that the film does run on too long and that it occasionally feels a bit too contrived, simplistic and cutesy for its own good, but, on the whole, this is a moving, thoughtful film that treats both its subject matter and its audience with the respect they deserve.
Given the setup, one wouldn't expect Alan to turn out to be the more complex, layered and compelling of the two characters. But in writer/director Mike Binder's gifted hands, we come to see that Alan is struggling every bit as much as Charlie is with his own set of weaknesses, insecurities and inadequacies, albeit not in so obvious a fashion. For the major difference between Alan and Charlie is that Alan can at least manage to hold his life together and remain a productive adult while Charlie clearly cannot. Is Alan drawn to Charlie because he sincerely wants to help him, or is he drawn to him because, in some strange way, he envies the freedom that Charlie's dysfunctional life affords him? Or is it a little of both? The beauty of the character - and of Cheadle's magnificently rich interpretation of him - is that we never really know the answer to those questions.
Binder is notably less successful at getting into Charlie's head, partly because Sandler's performance, while not bad, lacks the subtle shadings we find in Cheadle's. Still, there are moments in which Sandler effectively captures the heartbreaking pain that his character is going through. The movie also boasts very fine work from Jada Pinkett Smith, as Alan's wife; Melinda Dillon as Charlie's concerned mother-in-law; Saffron Burrows as a mentally disturbed patient who comes on to Alan in his office; Liv Tyler as a compassionate psychiatrist; and Paula Newsome as Alan's sassy office receptionist who provides some much needed humor to lighten the load.
The movie could be criticized for having a few too many subplots cluttering up the main storyline, but I argue that it is those very subplots that are indispensable to the movie since they help to flesh out Alan's character and world. It's true that the film does run on too long and that it occasionally feels a bit too contrived, simplistic and cutesy for its own good, but, on the whole, this is a moving, thoughtful film that treats both its subject matter and its audience with the respect they deserve.