By Geno McGahee
It’s hard to believe that 9/11 was nearly 20 years ago and as I meet youngsters, I realize that it’s just history to them. It’s strange to know some 18 year olds that look at the event in a much different manner. Being in my forties, 9/11 was one of the biggest moments that I lived through and it’s easy to look at it as a whole, focusing on numbers and not individual cases. In the 2007 film REIGN OVER ME, the focus is on one story from that day.
I’m not a big fan of Adam Sandler. He can be good and I do like some of the movies that he has starred in like CLICK and WEDDING SINGER, but the goofy character that has been constant in his films can be grating. In this film, Sandler plays Charlie Fineman, a man that lost his entire family in the 9/11 attacks and has become detached from society.
Alan (Don Cheadle) is a dentist that has become popular with the single ladies. His wife, Janeane (Jada Pinkett Smith), supports him but finds him relatively detached from his family. He is afraid to open up and Janeane desperately wants that. He isn’t happy about having no life either and being in this never-ending loop of work then home and repeat.
As Alan is driving through the city, he sees Charlie. They were college roommates and Alan knows that Charlie lost his entire family on 9/11 and wants to be there for him, even though so many years have passed. When he approaches Charlie, he realizes that he has lost more than his family with the attacks.
The two starts to hang out, but Charlie is very paranoid and unstable. Alan hangs in there and desperately wants to help and reach him, but it’s a very bumpy road. Any time Alan asks the wrong question or says the wrong comment, Charlie erupts.
Angela (Liv Tyler), a psychologist that Alan knows, is recruited to help Charlie, as reluctant as he may be and I have to say that Liv Tyler has come a long way. This is probably her best performance. She was very believable and came off very warm in this one.
The meetings with Angela and Charlie do not go well and when he finally opens up to Alan, he is hit with the flood of memories of that day where he lost his entire family. It leads to a suicide attempts and the potential of complete lock up in a mental hospital. Charlie starts to open up but the battle is an uphill one.
REIGN OVER ME accomplished a few things. It showed, once again, that Sandler is a great dramatic actor and is far better than the goofball that he has been in most other films. The film also brought back the feelings of 9/11 and they have been sort of lost as of late, I think. The final thing that I take away from this one is the friendship between Alan and Charlie and how much Alan had to go through to maintain it. I think many would avoid and block Charlie out of their lives, but he had the patience to see that through and it was still a foundation being built when this film concluded.
I highly recommend this film, especially for those that only know Sandler from his work in films like BILLY MADISON and HAPPY GILMORE. This showed just how well he adapts to a character, ranging from likable to frustrating. The rest of the cast was very good and it probably makes most people think about their friends that have issues and what approach to take with them when they respond differently than most would. I don’t think that most would have the patience of Alan.
