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Reign Over Me
EMAILPRINTColumbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 58 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Mike Binder
Directed by: Mike Binder
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 23, 2007
DVD: October 9, 2007
Running Time: 124 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language and some sexual references
Starring Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Donald Sutherland, Robert Klein, Melinda Dillon, and Mike Binder
Former college roommates Charlie Fineman (Sandler) and Alan Johnson (Cheadle) meet up again by chance on a Manhattan street corner. Five years after losing his family on 9/11, Charlie has retreated from his life, and Alan is stunned to see the changes in his formerly gregarious friend. At the same time, Alan who should be enjoying his beautiful wife, children and career is overwhelmed by his responsibilities. Their rekindled relationship becomes a lifeline for the two men, who are both in need of a trusted friend at this pivotal moment in their lives. (Columbia Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Upside of Anger
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
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.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
It's a courageous, moving, organically funny picture.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Scott Foundas
If Binder has a considerably heavier hand when it comes to metaphor, his movie nevertheless remains buoyant because the feelings in it are immutable, and because Sandler has never before held the screen with greater intensity.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Despite a few weak points, the most heavily dramatic Sandler vehicle to date is a striking, genuinely touching, meticulously well-acted friendship parable, and a big audience pleaser.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore
It doesn't exploit our emotions about Sept. 11; it simply tells a story that exists because of what happened that day -- one that should resonate with a wide, appreciative audience.
Read Full Review >Variety Joe Leydon
Sandler (never making a false step while maneuvering though vertiginous mood swings) and Cheadle (deftly commingling instinctive decency with quiet desperation) are individually excellent, and bring out the best in each other. And the picture itself transcends its real but relatively minor flaws to score a satisfyingly potent impact.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
A thoughtful, involving and sometimes moving film that almost (and I do mean almost) justifies its use of 9/11 as a dramatic device.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Reign works better much better than "Upside" because of the cast and because Sandler and Cheadle together keep it lighter. It's an easy film to watch, but less easy to be moved by.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
This is not a simple, uplifting tale. It's never clear whether Charlie will fully recover, and that sense of realism is the film's strength.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
A triumph for Cheadle and Sandler, whose performances strew the seeds of regeneration.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Though the pain of this 9/11 story doesn't pierce as deeply as it should, the laughs are consistently humane.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Binder has set a difficult bar -- to make a funny, sad, original movie about the healing power of not necessarily healing -- and he just manages to clear it.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
That is an unusually gloomy proposition not just for a studio movie but for a society that, despite the acts and sites of official commemoration, must find good cause to forge ahead from catastrophe. Reign Over Me closes with, at best, a cautious hope, leaving us more anxious than when we went in, and throughout the film there is a stunned and bewildered air hanging over the city, like a heavy smog.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A strange, black-and-blue therapeutic drama equally mottled with likable good intentions and agitating clumsiness.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Cheadle takes what could have been a role as a mere foil and creates a rich portrait of a vaguely discontented married man. Yet the drama sputters once it reaches a contrived and melodramatic climax that feels undernourished and artificial – both less than and more than one had hoped for.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
At its heart a simple story about friendship and loss, carried over with enough genuine feeling to excuse its uncertain footing.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
The good news is that this movie is no "Spanglish;" the bad news is that Sandler's performance is actually better than the material deserves.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
In its best moments, Reign Over Me quietly says that we're our problem friends' keepers. At its worst, the movie IS a problem friend.
Read Full Review >Empire Helen O'Hara
Cheadle's finest hour and proof that Sandler can act. Funny, sad and flawed -- like its characters.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
Movies about male friendship are often trivialized with the "buddy" tag, but this one resonates beyond that.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Reign Over Me uses the rhythms and moods of comedy to explore, and also to contain, overpowering feelings of loss, anger and hurt. And like that earlier movie ("The Upside of Anger"), this one is maddeningly uneven.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
This is not a simple picture. It's serious, disarmingly funny at times and certainly ambitious, yet diminished by some of the traits that have made the standard Sandler characters so popular.
New York Post Lou Lumenick
It's not exactly a surprise the makers of Reign Over Me feel compelled to manufacture a happy ending for a story that really has none. Pity.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
As moving as some parts are, it's muddled by a script that tries to pack in too much. There's sufficient material for a couple of films and a sitcom.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
It's tough to make a good tearjerker - one need look no further than this misfire to understand why.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Reign Over Me drizzles down on us for two full hours, persistently determined to prove that, if it hangs around long enough, a coherent movie will turn up. No such luck.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Sandler, whose mop of curls makes him look like a 40-ish Bob Dylan, acts up a satisfying storm. Cheadle remains an appealing island of calm; other cast members deliver the little that's asked of them.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Depends on one's ability to accept Sandler in the part: For me, the casting felt too much like a stunt, a filmmaker's compromise to get his intimate, uncommercial script green-lit.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
A very gentle picture, intended to soothe us, not to jolt or shock us. But it's so gentle that it lacks any discernible energy; sometimes it seems there's barely enough tension in the story to keep the images from sliding off the screen.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
Has some nice touches. Cheadle is capable as always, and Paula Newsome kills as his acerbic receptionist.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
The film is slick when it needs to be raw, tidy when it needs to sprawl, and amorphous when it needs to focus.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Veering between sentimentality and exploitation with a few misguided stops at raunchy sex farce, Reign Over Me never finds a tone to suit its purpose.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 58 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Glenn P. gave it an8:
Sandler surprised me, because I laughed not at the outrageousness of the few comedic bits but at the genuine irony of the fun Charlie and Johnson were having in the midst of such profound grief. I really enjoyed this movie. Viewer should be forewarned that the R rating is deserved, so this is not a film for kids at all.
Thomas P. gave it a9:
Loved the movie, Adam Sandler was great for a change, Cheadle was as convincing as always. Great soundtrack.
Jon R. gave it a9:
One of the best movies I've seen in a while. Its is a little strung out, but I still thought it was excellent.
Alex D. gave it a9:
I just read some of the other reviews and comments, and I must say the negative ones surprise me. I also disagree with them, of course. That is to say, I will admit that the "happy" ending seemed a bit too easy, and Liv Tyler's psychiatrist didn't feel very realistic at times. But those are minor blemishes on an otherwise superb emotional story. Many people seem to think of Adam Sandler as a less than serious comedy actor being cast against character. After Punch Drunk Love, and after seeing Jim Carrey basically doing the same thing (very successfully), I was less surprised. What puzzles me more is why he isn't currently in possession of two Oscars, and perhaps a nomination for the Wedding Singer. Yes, I love Adam Sandler. Another thing that seems to bother people about this movie is its treatment of 9/11. I don't get that. This is a movie about New Yorkers, and surely 9/11 is a part of every New Yorker's life. I would be a lot more surprised if there weren't any stories about people's experiences and loss, or if it were only mentioned in movies that deal specifically with the attacks. This is a story about a man who suffered a great loss, which years later still affects him deeply. That seems right to me. Like I said before, there are a few minor points that I didn't totally agree with. For all his suffering, Charlie seems to be somewhat less than credibly blessed with a psychiatrist who goes way above and beyond the call of duty, a beautiful (if disturbed) woman who seems to find mental problems and men who completely ignore her irresistible, and an apartment that's larger than the White House. I guess I'm just jealous that those things never happen to me. But hey, nothing wrong with some escapism in the movies.
Jason E. gave it a10:
I honestly cannot understand why critics have been so mediocre towards this movie. It is possibly the most real, human drama I've seen in a very long. Every single actor in this movie is brilliant, and the writing is honest and natural. Far better than the standard overdramatic drivel you'll find critics praising much more readily.
Mitch M. gave it a4:
I plead guilty to having an adverse reaction to anything Adam Sandler is in. That being admitted up front, sitting through this was still a slow torture. I recognize the good intentions and considerable talents that were part of the production, but it never achieved the well-deserved catharsis of a great tragedy, and even fell into that hollywood cliche of portraying madness as an exalted and "special" state of awareness, by matchmaking Sandler and the psycho woman at the end and wrapping a neat little pink bow around it to suggest that they would be a great couple because of their cumulative madness.
Tony B. gave it a7:
I kept hoping they wouldn't tie things up neatly at the end, and they didn't. Don Cheadle turns in another excellent performance, Adam Sandler is a revelation and the supporting cast is fine.
