Reign Over Me(Blu-ray) (2007)

"...[Sandler and Cheadle] are individually excellent, and bring out the best in each other...a satisfyingly potent impact.  Joe Leydon, Variety
"It doesn't exploit our emotions about Sept. 11; it simply tells a story that exists because of what happened that day...  John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
"...a courageous, moving, organically funny picture.  Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
"...the feelings in it are immutable...Sandler has never before held the screen with greater intensity.  Scott Foundas, The Village Voice
"...a striking, genuinely touching, meticulously well-acted friendship parable, and a big audience pleaser.  William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Editor's Note Demonstrating the same understanding of the complexities of human relationships that characterized his 2006 film, THE UPSIDE OF ANGER, and his short-lived HBO series, THE MIND OF THE MARRIED MAN, writer/director Mike Binder once again taps into the same fertile ground in this story of one man's difficulty reconnecting with the world after experiencing a great tragedy. In another role showcasing his relatively untapped talent for dramatic roles, Adam Sandler is Charlie Fineman, a New York dentist whose post-traumatic stress caused by the loss of his wife and children on 9/11 sees him regressing to a sort of second childhood dominated by videogames, record collecting, and riding his motor scooter around the city. A chance run-in with his former college roommate, fellow dentist, and family man Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle) spurs Charlie's first attempts at remembering his past. But though Alan is genuinely glad to try and help Charlie, it will take more than the company of a good friend to get Charlie back to the world. Striking just the right balance between comedy and pathos, Binder's script elicits another great performance from Cheadle, and allows Sandler to continue to prove that he's capable of far more than the comedies that made him a box-office superstar. They are accompanied by a stellar supporting cast including Jada Pinkett Smith as Alan's vigilant wife, Janeane; Liv Tyler as the therapist who finally gives Charlie a healthy outlet for his grief; and Saffron Burrows as a neurotic patient of Alan's. Though REIGN OVER ME could be classified as a post-9/11 film, Binder never belabors or exploits the point and never actually mentions the event by name. The stunning New York location shots look as lovely as any in cinematic memory.

	Adam Sandler
	B.J. Novak
	Don Cheadle
	Donald Sutherland
	Jada Pinkett Smith
	Liv Tyler
	Robert Klein
	Saffron Burrows
	Greg Berry - Art Director
	Jeff G. Waxman - Producer
	Jeremy Roush - Editor
	Lynwood Spinks - Executive Producer
	Mike Binder - Director
	Mike Binder - Writer
	Rolfe Kent - Original Music By
	Russ T. Alsobrook - Cinematographer
	Steve Edwards - Editor

Sight and Sound
"Sandler's detached air and Cheadle's winning hesitancy play well..." 05/01/2007 p. 82

USA Today
3 stars out of 4 -- "[T]he chemistry between Sandler and Don Cheadle keeps us engaged. Writer/director Mike Binder has fashioned a film that sensitively explores male friendship and the lingering effects of grief and trauma." 03/23/2007 p.6E

Box Office
"Writer/director Mike Binder fully arrives with this delicately observed and emotionally expansive drama." 06/01/2007 p.92

Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "A melancholic, slow-burning drama....The character-led script pays dividends with a resolution that is powerful and almost unbearably moving." 12/01/2007 p.86

New York Daily News 10 of 10
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...Binder, who wrote, directed and plays a small role in "Reign," showed his serious filmmaking side in 2005 with "The Upside of Anger," and Sandler gave a heralded performance as an offbeat businessman in 2002's "Punch-Drunk Love." But the complex "Reign Over Me" is a dramatic quantum leap over those films...Cheadle is good, as always, but Sandler's portrayal of a guy on the perennial brink of a psychotic breakdown is amazing. The scene where he finally attempts to reveal the events of 9/11 is as fine a piece of naked emotional acting as you're likely to see this year. The "Waterboy" has made the varsity. - Jack Mathews

Reel.com 7 of 10
In the well-intentioned, ultimately unsatisfying Reign Over Me, writer/director Mike Binder glibly offers up the horrors of 9/11 as the vehicle of destruction for the Fineman brood, placing the woman and her girls on one of the planes that slammed into the World Trade Center...Perhaps most shocking, after Binder wrote such great roles for Joan Allen and the four actresses who played her daughters in The Upside of Anger, is the shaft the women get here. Smith is stuck playing a one-note nag, while Saffron Burrows appears in the unlikely role of a patient of Alan's who transfers her obsession with him to a fixation on Charlie. As with Charlie, the women appear to have been written to fit the story rather than developed as full-blown characters. But the characters merely reflect what is ultimately wrong with the movie. There's a poignant story here, but to tell it well Binder needed to dig deep. Instead, he skates along the surface, and Charlie's story never comes completely alive. - Pam Grady