Reign Over Me
Score: 9/10
Like I said before, with nothing else to do I just snuck into this one after Zodiac. I knew it would most likely have a good story and be something my mom would like, and normally that’s all good with me, but nothing I’d ever pay to see or rent on DVD. Purely a watch it when it comes on TV flick. Well, maybe it was my not having the slightest expectations for this movie that made it so surprisingly good, but my worries that sitting another two hours in the theatre would be too uncomfortable disappeared immediately as the movie developed and Adam Sandler’s character proved to be one of his best yet. There’s no denying this is a good date movie, and I wished I had a girl with me for sure, but the range of emotions felt throughout this movie, from laugh out loud funny to teary eyed sadness is pulled off with great balance. Don Cheadle is excellent as usual, playing Sandler’s old college roommate who, after bumping into him randomly, stops his life for a while to help him out of a deep depression in which he basically lives in a world of his own. All because he lost his family when they were on one of the flights that hit the buildings in 9/11. Using 9/11 as a dramatic device is very borderline, but I was happy to see they pulled it off tastefully. When all is said and done, this is more than just a chick flick your mom will like, or a good date movie. It’s a movie that examines what it means to be family or friends, and the effect one person can have on so many others. It’s saying a lot that I’m still thinking about this movie when I saw Zodiac in the same night, but it’s true. Zodiac was good, but Reign Over Me was my favorite of the night. Who would’ve thought.
