The problem with being funny in Hollywood is that once you've established your rep as a comedian, you're rarely allowed the chance to do anything except be funny. But Adam Sandler, who has been trying, and failing, to pull himself out of this trap since 2002's Punch-Drunk Love, has finally done it. He's made a drama that is poignant and touching and which proves, at long last, that the man can actually act.
In Reign Over Me, Sandler plays Charlie Fineman, a successful dentist who lost his family in the September 11th attacks and subsequently fell apart. He quit his job, stopped talking to his friends, and cut off ties with anyone and anything that reminded him of his wife and three daughters. When his college roommate (Don Cheadle) runs into him on the street, the two rekindle their friendship and, in the end, save each other. Though the plotline is cheesy, writer-director Mike Binder shoots the film with a softness and depth that transforms would-be sappy moments into incredibly moving ones.
Reign Over Me could do without a few of its minor plot points - Charlie getting arrested and having to appear before the Honorable Judge Donald Sutherland is a bit of an unnecessary stretch - and would be a stronger film without its pathetic attempts to lighten the mood. But overall it is a stirring portrait of just how fragile a man can be. The real strength of the film lies in Sandler's perfect portrayal of Charlie: his eyes project not only terrible grief, but also manage to house a glimmer of the man that must have existed before tragedy struck. The result is haunting.
