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Mike Binder's Reign Over Me

by Kathryn Durfee
04/22/2007



What if you suffered a loss so tragic that you began to lose yourself? Reign Over Me, written and directed by Mike Binder, is a portrait of Charlie Fineman (a shaggy-haired Adam Sandler), a former dentist left widowed and childless after the 9/11 attacks. He is spotted one night by his college roommate, Alan Johnson (the soft-spoken Don Cheadle), who soon discovers that the Charlie he once knew has been buried along with his family.

Alan rekindles the friendship in hopes of helping Charlie but also out of a sort of jealousy of the freedom his old friend enjoys, finding his own life stagnant and controlled. However, the mere mention of Charlie's past life sends him into a screaming frenzy – a more depressed version of his character in Anger Management – as he believes Alan has been sent by doctors to rein Charlie in. Though skeptical, Charlie accepts Alan's friendship, and the two men work to bring each other back to life.

Most scenes in Reign Over Me portray New York as the New Yorkers see it: a world of underground clubs and record stores, late-night movie marathons (because everyone benefits from a little Mel) and restaurants. This is a New York completely at odds with the tragedy of Charlie's life.

Sandler delivers sincerity, though neither as touching as the soft-and-gooey moments of Spanglish nor as explosive as in Punch-Drunk Love. His character should be committed as a danger to himself and others, but no one in the film seems to agree. Cheadle can convey more with a glance than most actors can, but it is difficult to feel sympathy for a successful doctor with a beautiful wife and two loving daughters. Liv Tyler plays a psychiatrist, Donald Sutherland a judge, and Saffron Burrows a flirtatious patient.

Reign Over Me is poignant indeed, but trying a bit too hard to be a tearjerker, relying a bit too much on a still-recent national tragedy.

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