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Average User Score: 8 (41 sources)

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farqual88

-1

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After recently watching this film, it amazed me how Adam Sandler can not just do the comedy that I've loved from him for years, but also perform the more emotional and much more meningful characters so convincingly. I wouldn't blame you if you...
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After recently watching this film, it amazed me how Adam Sandler can not just do the comedy that I've loved from him for years, but also perform the more emotional and much more meningful characters so convincingly. I wouldn't blame you if you expect to see slapstick fights and plenty of swearing, because that's what Sandler's movies are usually all about. This though was an almost perfect movie for me. It brought very subtle comedy into a very tragic story of a man refusing to move on from the deaths of his wife and three children in the 9/11 attacks. Not only was Sandler on such top form, but Don Cheadle also did brilliatly as the friendly family-man Alan, who has everything that Charlie used to have.

One scene which really shone for me was Charlie's eventual openness towards his college room mate about his lost family. It was so emotionally delivered by Sandler that I almost got thrown by his ability to not only do comedy in such brilliant way, but also show the more personal and emotional sides of a character.

It was the ending though that brought Reign Over Me down slightly. I would have much preferred to see how Charlie was for the rest of his life and whether he had a happy one. It seemed to end abruptly.

Nevertheless this movie was fantastic, and Sandler gave a new refereshing performance to completely give me a new perspective of his talents. The storyline was told very well and this film will long reman one of my favourites.

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Posted sep 8, 2008 8:53 am pt

XDGRifle

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I think this is the most inspirational movie I have ever seen in my life time. I think Adam Sandler plays the best role in his life. And Don Cheadle had an amazing performance as Allen Johnson. I Think this is my favorite movie.

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Posted jul 30, 2008 12:44 am pt

othforeverlove

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Adam Sandler plays a character named Charlie Fineman who lost his family during the September 11th attack. He is a very distraught man who has to deal with the pain and suffering of loosing the ones he loved. Allen Johnson, his old room mate, who...
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Adam Sandler plays a character named Charlie Fineman who lost his family during the September 11th attack. He is a very distraught man who has to deal with the pain and suffering of loosing the ones he loved. Allen Johnson, his old room mate, who helps him deal with everything. Once Allen asks him questions about his family, he gives wild tantrums and yells a lot. He likes to consider Allen as a friend because he didn't know his family. Charlie thinks it would be a lot easier and that Allen wouldn't ask him a lot of questions about it but he was wrong.

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Posted jan 4, 2008 10:18 pm pt

alichino

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It is sad the way we humans work. If this movie had starred some complete unknown in the lead roll it would have done better. The box offices totals would have been higher and the reviews, more complex.

Alas, It starred Adam...
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It is sad the way we humans work. If this movie had starred some complete unknown in the lead roll it would have done better. The box offices totals would have been higher and the reviews, more complex.

Alas, It starred Adam Sandler whom has been typecast by his many comedic roles and I would hazard to guess that few people forked out eight bucks to see a movie they felt confused over.

But they should have.

This is a compelling story of remorse, guilt, and the slow very painful process of finding something tangible to survive for. A man who had the world taken from him in the blink of an eye living with the endless array of guilt and sorrow that only serve to remind him of what he's lost. Adam Sandler is very good in this movie, his portrayal of a man completely lost to the world is excellent, right down to his in ability to feel anything. It is impossible to not suffer his heart right along with him and thankfully, Don Cheadle does such a beautiful job of conveying that for us that we don't have to work to hard at it.

The subplots are well done, work with in the frame work offered by the overall story, and the supporting cast from Jada Pinkett Smith to Saffron Burrows do such a good job of keeping things in their right depth that you don't get lost in the sub-stories or feel them trite and pretentious.

My only complaint is the end. I found it a little to Hollywood and would have liked this ending to have been more near the end of Act II. Obviously it was to give us hope, that independent souls have the ability to find peace and rebirth, but it would have been played better if he done it earlier. I never mention favorite scenes, but I was so touched by the courthouse scene with his In-laws that I have to mention just how great that scene was, right down to the fidgety hard play Sandler's character showed when after delivering that beautiful monologue about how much he misses them, he leans and gives his mother in law a kiss. It is moments like that which allow us to realize the depth of our own lives.

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Posted nov 5, 2007 3:50 am pt

home2839

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Overall, I was impressed. It was a very moving picture. Don Cheadle, as is always, presented another strong performance, though lately, his roles seem very similar. But, for me anyways, Adam Sandler surprised me in his role as the grief-stricken...
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Overall, I was impressed. It was a very moving picture. Don Cheadle, as is always, presented another strong performance, though lately, his roles seem very similar. But, for me anyways, Adam Sandler surprised me in his role as the grief-stricken widow who has shut himself off from the world. I found it very convincing and real. Maybe I shouldn't be that surprised as it seems that comedians have this ability to understand the full range of our human condition, like Jim Carrey, Tom Hanks, and Robin Williams. Anyways, I did find myself entangled in the story and really genuinely feel for the characters in every minute throughout the movie.

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Posted oct 15, 2007 4:25 am pt

angel_drem

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It was a new idea and a good one at the same time

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Posted jul 29, 2007 10:30 am pt

reigners

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This was bit of a freaky fun treat. The two stars and director were on hand at the South by Southwest Film Festival screening of Reign Over Me. Since Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle were gonna be there, I decided to skip the movie before this to get...
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This was bit of a freaky fun treat. The two stars and director were on hand at the South by Southwest Film Festival screening of Reign Over Me. Since Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle were gonna be there, I decided to skip the movie before this to get a good place in line. Considering the insane turn out for Knocked Up, I figure it was only inevitable that this would get filled up too. Boy, I was SO wrong on that one. The floor seats at The Paramount theater didn't even get filled. Crazy snobby indie film types , I guess. I was not aware that this movie was not a typical Adam Sandler comedy. Yes, I thought it odd that Don Cheadle would be in a comedy. But, stranger things have happened, like Adam Sandler doing a serious role, and not only pulling it off but freakin' rockin' it out. The quick & dirty — Charlie (Sandler) has lost his wife and daughters in the 9/11 planes, and has decided the best way to deal with it is to forget he ever had a family. Alan (Cheadle) is getting tired of his mundane routine-laden life, and has pulled away from his wife and children emotionally. This was a very well made touching movie. I liked the contrasting struggles of Alan and Charlie. A peculiar/interesting thing in the movie was Alan's apparent jealousy of Charlie's life. Even though Charlie has lost everyone he loves, and with it his grip on life, Alan seems to truly envy the freedom he possesses. When, in fact, he has no freedom at all. This was a very well done movie, IMO. Go Mike Binder.

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Posted apr 7, 2007 1:46 pm pt

westcoastwillam

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a damn near perfect drama mnay more people should have went and seen this movie i love adamn sandleer and don cheadle great on screen chemistry amazing story i would see it agian and a again very moving and even funny at time's this movie evoke's...
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a damn near perfect drama mnay more people should have went and seen this movie i love adamn sandleer and don cheadle great on screen chemistry amazing story i would see it agian and a again very moving and even funny at time's this movie evoke's every emotion you have both actors at there best

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Posted mar 30, 2007 10:22 am pt

• [+] New York Daily News
  
  100
  The incredibly moving post-9/11 drama Reign Over Me proves that behind the funny guy facades of former standup comedians Mike Binder and Adam Sandler are a pair of very serious talents.

  by Jack Mathews | Read Full Review »
• [+] Baltimore Sun
  
  91
  It's a courageous, moving, organically funny picture.

  by Michael Sragow | Read Full Review »
• [+] Village Voice
  
  90
  If Binder has a considerably heavier hand when it comes to metaphor, his movie nevertheless remains buoyant because the feelings in it are immutable, and because Sandler has never before held the screen with greater intensity.

  by Scott Foundas | Read Full Review »
• [+] Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  83
  Despite a few weak points, the most heavily dramatic Sandler vehicle to date is a striking, genuinely touching, meticulously well-acted friendship parable, and a big audience pleaser.

  by William Arnold | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Hollywood Reporter
  
  80
  It doesn't exploit our emotions about Sept. 11; it simply tells a story that exists because of what happened that day -- one that should resonate with a wide, appreciative audience.

  by John DeFore | Read Full Review »
• [+] Variety
  
  80
  Sandler (never making a false step while maneuvering though vertiginous mood swings) and Cheadle (deftly commingling instinctive decency with quiet desperation) are individually excellent, and bring out the best in each other. And the picture itself transcends its real but relatively minor flaws to score a satisfyingly potent impact.

  by Joe Leydon | Read Full Review »
• [+] Premiere
  
  75
  A thoughtful, involving and sometimes moving film that almost (and I do mean almost) justifies its use of 9/11 as a dramatic device.

  by Glenn Kenny | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  75
  Reign works better much better than "Upside" because of the cast and because Sandler and Cheadle together keep it lighter. It's an easy film to watch, but less easy to be moved by.

  by Michael Wilmington | Read Full Review »
• [+] USA Today
  
  75
  This is not a simple, uplifting tale. It's never clear whether Charlie will fully recover, and that sense of realism is the film's strength.

  by Claudia Puig | Read Full Review »
• [+] Philadelphia Inquirer
  
  75
  A triumph for Cheadle and Sandler, whose performances strew the seeds of regeneration.

  by Carrie Rickey | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Reader
  
  70
  Though the pain of this 9/11 story doesn't pierce as deeply as it should, the laughs are consistently humane.

  by J.R. Jones | Read Full Review »
• [+] Washington Post
  
  70
  Binder has set a difficult bar -- to make a funny, sad, original movie about the healing power of not necessarily healing -- and he just manages to clear it.

  by Ann Hornaday | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New Yorker
  
  70
  That is an unusually gloomy proposition not just for a studio movie but for a society that, despite the acts and sites of official commemoration, must find good cause to forge ahead from catastrophe. Reign Over Me closes with, at best, a cautious hope, leaving us more anxious than when we went in, and throughout the film there is a stunned and bewildered air hanging over the city, like a heavy smog.

  by Anthony Lane | Read Full Review »
• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  67
  A strange, black-and-blue therapeutic drama equally mottled with likable good intentions and agitating clumsiness.

  by Lisa Schwarzbaum | Read Full Review »
• [+] Austin Chronicle
  
  67
  Cheadle takes what could have been a role as a mere foil and creates a rich portrait of a vaguely discontented married man. Yet the drama sputters once it reaches a contrived and melodramatic climax that feels undernourished and artificial - both less than and more than one had hoped for.

  by Marjorie Baumgarten | Read Full Review »