Reign Over Me
You have to see the new Adam Sandler and Don Cheedle movieReign Over Me. I found myself at about 1:00 p.m. yesterday trying to go to a movie, and nothing was playing at a decent time that I hadn’t already seen, but that. And I really didn’t plan to see an Adam Sandler movie. But was I glad I did!
The movie had all the elements I believe a good and even great movie should have. I don’t understand the critics giving it low marks because it is a good movie. It has great dialog, realistic and believable. There are places in the movie where there is great monologue, and it doesn’t sound annoying like in a Woody Allen movie. The monologue sort of caters to the less sophisticated moviegoer. I think the writer took some great elements from Woody Allen and tailored those elements to fit this movie.
Sometimes a movie seems disconnected, like the movie is speaking and saying, look at me. Look at my great dialog between these two great actors here. Well, in this movie, you almost forget that you are looking at Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler. They perform well together. Adam Sandler’s performance is not a long trail of great comedic monologue. He becomes the character so well, that you forget you are looking at Adam Sandler, the actor. The same can be said for Don Cheedle. There are moments in the movie where he doesn’t speak a word, but says reams in his expressions and visual performance. Because of this, the movie becomes not so much a pasting together of scenes, but a harmonious construction of themes flowing together.
The subject matter is handled well. If you’ve seen the trailers, you know that Adam is having some problems coping with his grief. Don Cheadle’s character is facing some bumps in his marriage and in his career. These two issues are not handled in a stereotypical way, although there is some coverage of common themes known to everyone… a man feeling stifled in his marriage, a man suffering a great loss.
In the end the main theme is shown in the action, and the audience should walk out feeling very satisfied. I did something I don’t always do after seeing a movie. I didn’t fidget and I sat in my seat through the final credits. I both laughed out loud and cried as I sat through the entire movie.
We expect humor in an Adam Sandler movie—and he did not disappoint—but what was totally unexpected was his range of emotion and physical, nonverbal expression.
The music fits the movie so well I find myself wanting to own the soundtrack.
I guess I’m not a sophisticated moviegoer because I don’t always agree with the critics, but this one, in my opinion, is worth watching.
Lisa A. Trimarchi
