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Reign Over Me

Rewrite!

By RICHARD BECK | March 21, 2007

1.5 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for Reign Over Me.

It’s a commonplace that real-world ugliness is the best kind of fodder for artistic beauty, but if Reign over Me, which is written and directed by Mike Binder, demonstrates one thing, it’s that 9/11 isn’t up for redemption just yet. The focal points are Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle), a dentist with problems at work and in marriage, and Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler), who lost his family to the hijackers. The two bump into each other by chance after years apart, and Alan quickly discovers that Charlie, who spends his time cruising downtown Manhattan via scooter, has fallen apart. Both actors give admirable performances, but they can’t quite navigate the script, which swerves from pathos to laughs with little warning and less sense. Binder can’t decide whether he wants to confront his audience or help it get by with a hug, so he throws a buddy movie and a therapy flick together and hopes for the best, but nobody’s going to come out of this one healed.

Topics: Reviews , Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle

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