Movie Review - Reign Over Me

This movie was actually part of my video fest while the family was out of town, but I felt it deserved a full review rather than a quick dash an go.

First let's talk Adam Sandler.

I like Adam Sandler as an actor and a comedian. Before I saw this film I would have said he'd done mostly good movies, two great ones and a few not so good films. I'd say they were bad films, but even the ones I really didn't like had moments where I will still quote today and, for that reason alone, they deserve a "not so good" rating from me.

(In case you're wondering, the two films I rate as "great" are "The Wedding Singer" and "Spanglish." I'm not a big PTA fan and while I appreciated Sandler's role and the stretch from his previous characters, I just didn't think "Punch Drunk Love." was a great film.)

If there were any one complaint I have about Adam Sandler's characters it's the "over the top" nature that most seem to have, even if it's for a moment in a movie where the character didn't display said attributes before.

As you can guess by my great rating of "Spanglish" I do see a lot of potential for Sandler in a straight dramatic role.

"Reign Over Me" proved that, not only can Sandler act in a completely dramatic role, he can do so in a fashion where the "over the top" character doesn't come out.

Now, certainly, the director has a lot to do with this as well. There is one scene in particular where his character is out of control (I won't go into specifics as it's a pivitol scence in the film) where a lesser director/actor whould have let the out of control character that Sandler has built up come out and play and it would have shattered the scene and possibly the whole movie in that moment. However, in that moment, Sandler may have defined his career as an actor. The pain the character is feeling, the issues that he'd (not) dealing with, it all comes out in a powerful scene that compeltely captured me.

So what about the rest of the film?

The truth is, this isn't Adam Sandler's film: It's Don Cheadle's. The story really revolves around his character.

The basics of the film (mostly shown in the trailer) are as follows:

Don Cheadle's character, Alan, is a dentist who's got a lot of dissatisfaction in his life. By chance, he runs into his old Dentistry college roommate, Charlie (Sandler.) Charlie lost his wife and 3 girls during 9/11 (they were on one of the planes from Boston,) a fact Alan is aware of (but no mention is made during the trailer as to when he found out.)

Charlie in his grief has disconnected from reality in several ways: he doesn't practice dentistry anymore, drives around Manhattan at night on an electric scooter and has tried to build up a wall of denial about what has happened to his life.

What the trailer tried to convey was this is a "buddy film" where Don Cheadle's character Alan reconnects with Adam Sandler and frees himself by living vicariously through Charlie.

The truth is, this isn't that film. That's the film the marketing folks tried to sell you to get you in the theaters.

The actual film is as follows:

Alan has a lot of dissatisfaction in his life. He seems to be drifting, letting everyone else dictate how his life should be. He works in a dentistry practice that he put together and now his partners are stomping all over him. The pain of everyday life shows on his face which has lead to more than one woman trying to seduce him to help ease his obvious anguish in life. And moreover, he's aware of his ennui. He finds reasons to leave the building his practice is in at the same time as a psychologist, played by Liv Tyler and asks her advice on behalf of a "friend," a ploy she sees right through.

By chance encounter, Alan sees his old roommate, whos circumstances he's been aware of since September 2001 (and he tried to contact him after the attacks.) Later, he encounters him a second time in such a manner that he can actually talk to his former roommate. It becomes quickly apparent to Alan that Charlie has completely and deliberately lost touch with reality: He's been remodeling his kitchen for 5 years, he denies evern having a wife and kids and spends a lot of his days obsessing over a video game only to play drums with a punk band at night.

Feeling he has no control over his own life, Alan believes he can help Charlie take control of his.

And that's just the first 30 minutes of the movie.

This is not a simple movie.

There's a lot of complexity going on with mutiple subplots that tie in together very well.

But it's really the acting and direction which stand out in the film.

Without some serious acting chops from both Cheadle and Sandler, this movie would quickly degenerate into the buddy film it was advertised as and a lot of the subtlety would be lost without Mike Binder's direction. It certainly doesn't hurt that Binder wrote the film and has the experience to pull off his own vision (something I don't know that he would have been able to if this had been written 15 years ago when he wrote and directed another one of my "comfort films" "Indian Summer.")

A word of note: This is not a "happy go lucky" film. If you're in the mood for light entertainment ala "Happy Gilmore," this is not the film for you at this time. This is a serious drama and while it may or may not cause you to reflect on your own life, it's certainly one that will get you thinking.

I was entertained.

Movie reviews - Video Fest

There comes a time in everyone's life when they find themselves at odds for a few days.

In my case, my family is down in the Bay Area so I took the time to gorge out on cable and DVD's.

While these reviews will be in no way as extensive as my previous, I thought I'd share some of my observations from the couch from this long weekend:

Kickin it Old Skool:

I'm a fan of social commentary and this movie provided it with a lot of low humor with a sweet undertone of a love story. My biggest complaint about the film (and it is a small complaint at that,) was the cruelty of the "bad guy." Yes, he was an ass and we got that. I just felt he was unnecessary cruel. However, Jamie Kennedy and his "crew" pulled off the "retro" dance moves with panache and humor and the underlying story was done with enough thought that I was able to both suspend my disbelief and enjoy myself. I was entertained.

Crank:

My first thought after seeing this film was "whomever green lighted this film should be shot." The movie was "over the top" much in the way a Troma film is, but with high production values. However, even with it's over the top nature, the film just fell flat. With the exception of the last 10 inutes of the film, I couldn't have cared less that the lead character was dying because he just wasn't sympathetic. The only redemption the film had was the final gunfight, and even then that was not spectacular, but it did serve it's place: it ended the film in a more satisfying way than the rest of the film went. I was not entertained.

Resident Evil Apocolypse:

I've some to expect certain things from the Resident Evil movies: Bad direction, cheezy action, misdirected story lines and a whole lot of fun from movies that don't take themselves seriously. The third movie in the Resident Evil series delivered on all that I expected. The only real disappointment I felt with this movie was with Oded Fehr's character. It's a minor spoiler, but hey, he dies! The disappointment I felt was what I assumed he felt when he read the script and found out he didn't get to zombify. After all, this is his 2nd RE film, you know he's going to die. If I were the actor, I'd want to get my undead on. Not that the way he went out wasn't good, bordering on great, but, no zombie! I was entertained!

Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj:

So, first things first, if you're going to do a formulaic movie, this is a good example of how to do it. The movie went a little lighter on the gross out factor than the first, but it is still an underlying "feel good" movie about personal growth with more focus on the underdog triumphing over adversity. Kal Penn pulled off the more mature and confident Taj with the panache of Ryan Reynolds Van Wilder character from the first movie, but in such a manner that you never wanted to compare the two characters: In this movie Taj is his own man and walking his own path, but the the self confidence and caring that Van Wilder instilled in him fromt he first film. I was entertained.