Reign Over Me

Writer/director Mike Binder’s previous theatrical film was 2005’s highly underrated The Upside of Anger featuring a blazing performance by Joan Allen. Now he’s back with yet another great film of similar stock featuring exceptional work from both Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle. Cheadle is a notoriously gifted actor, but Sandler is often overlooked. Anyone who saw Punch-Drunk Love knows that he has acting talents beyond what he has shown in his slapstick mainstays, but this realization has yet to soak into the cultural consciousness of general film audiences. This puts this film in a very dangerous position. It comes from a large studio and features famous faces, but may not have the commercial draw of the bigger studio projects seeing release this weekend. It’s a shame. I actually think Binder is a very important voice for contemporary film. He makes movies that seem somewhat old-fashioned, not because they are lackluster but simply because their wilting genre – that is, of course, the mainstream studio melodrama – is a dying breed in modern film. Stories like this one, about a 9/11 widower reeling from psychological stasis and post-traumatic stress disorder, only ever seem to play out in low budget indie films. As more and more Oscar contenders come from the indie pool and major studios continue to pitch to niche, genre audiences, finding simple emotional stories like this one in theaters across the nation is becoming harder and harder. Action flicks, historical epics, romantic comedies, horror scarefests, and even ultra famous celeb biopics might fly within the studio system, but what place do simple, gimmick-free character dramas have in the modern film era? Are they only meant to play at 2 theaters in New York and L.A.? I certainly hope not.

Reign Over Me (loosely named after The Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me”) has a gripping, low-key loveliness and a brooding sulk drama sensibility that is absolutely refreshing. Its cast is pitch perfect as are its nimble, tone hopping writing and directing. Binder makes tragedy as funny as it is upsetting and his efforts to fend off the indulgence of disingenuous, overly dramatic filmmaking are highly appreciated. He wonderfully balances the story’s many highs and lows in a way that keeps us from feeling like victims of an excessively depressive narrative but also never sells short the justifiably dark material. Sandler’s Charlie Fineman is at once a jester and heartbreaker. There are moments when we forget his troubled past and his dangerous psychological illness only to be reminded of them shortly after by an explosion of his riveting despair. Cheadle’s character, Alan Johnson, is likewise a humble ringleader to the madness at the same as he is also a man of his own worries. The fullness of the story, which includes wonderfully small details of interaction between Charlie and the cast of other characters, leads to new events in Alan’s life as well. Everything unfolds with great efficacy and with a seemingly natural flow. Certainly, some things comes together a bit too nicely and there is perhaps a somewhat cinematic leniency taken toward the characters, but the integrity of the performances carry us over all of these hurdles.

It’s rare that any major studio project this heartfelt sees the light of day so soon before Oscar season, but finally we have something wonderful in wide release this spring. Whereas many of the films I recommend are films that will only get to be seen by most people on DVD, this one can actually be seen by almost anyone at this very moment. It’s well worth it.

Grade: A