Reign Over Me

Great interview with the two main actors, Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler. The interview really has nothing to do with the film, as they chit chat with each other.

What did I think of the film ?

First up, thankyou for making the man bag a fashion accessory ! even I would love the bag that Adam Sandlers character slung about his shoulders the entire film. I'd also like the scooter, with the price of petrol these days. Lots of the F word is dropped in the film, so if that offends don't go watch.

Most people know what the movie is about, A man who loses his family in one of the planes of 911, and loses it.

Although Adam Sandlers (Charlie Fineman) character was the central one in the film, that is the central tragic one, whose life had become one of recluse as he tried to forget his life pre 911 - I was interested in Don Cheadles character (Alan Johnson). Both men were college roomies and both had become dentists, quite successful at that.

Charlie Fineman had a loving family who adored him, tragically killed in 911. He was haunted by their memory, he was haunted by the last words he spoke to his wife, he shut himself off from the world including friends and family as he tried to forget. A poignant part of the film is when he is forced to see pictures of his family in court. Noone understood, he didn't need the pictures, he saw them in his head, he saw them in the faces of people in the street, he saw them in windows, in sidewalks in buildings. Memories are a very very powerful tool. Memories also possess the feelings and the emotions we felt at certain points in our lives, things that don't dissapear as readily. We have albums of snap shots of different aspects of our lives, yet when we look at these pictures they bring up other memories. We remember the hour the day even the year the snapshot was taken, we remember what was happening at that time, we remember past joys and sadness, we remember. It was very easy for people to identify with Charlie's problem because his grief was so visual. He quite obviously needed help and there were many good intentioned but highly unqualified and misguided samaritans ready to jump in and help him in their own way, if he'd let them.

Alan Johnson is a successful dentist, at a practice he created, he has a wonderful family and a beautiful wife. He is not happy, he feels lost, he feels insignificant, he feels that noone sees him for himself. He sees Charlie one day in the street and attempting to gain back a life from his past, chases Charlie down and tries to regain the friendship they once had. There is only one woman in the film who recognises the hole in Alan's life, she recognises that he is lacking something, although the something she thinks he is lacking, is a bit off ! (you'll know what I mean). She recognises his need (or the fact he is not quite centred) because she herself has gone through a traumatic experience, which has knocked her off kilter. To everyone else he is fine. I actually could identify with Alan Johnson, and I think many of us can, when we sit down and think about it. Many of us go about our lives with this mask on. We appear happy, we appear as if the world is at our feet, yet we are battling internally and privately with emotions and changes in our lives, that are affecting us considerably. The samaritans by pass us, because they don't recognise our need, and we would not expect or even accept help from a samaritan if they did in fact stop. Not because we are ungrateful, but because we feel that our trials are not as great or as wanting as others who are in greater need, eg in Alan's case, Charlie.

It was a good film, lots of thinking to be done at the end of it. I didn't really like the ending though, it could have been better. It's a sad film and was a nice change to see Adam Sandler in a role that required him to dig deep. Although the sadness comes from his circumstances, I didn't actually cry at any part of the film, wait I did in the one part where he opens up about his family. I would recommend it.