Reign Over Me (Mike Binder, 2007)

[Antoine Doinel]

Trailer

Adam Sandler goes "serious" again and I'm intrigued. There are some great visual moments in the trailer as well.

[souvenir]

I'm intrigued too. Cheadle's my favorite actor and who knew Sandler could look so much like Bob Dylan. I thought The Upside of Anger, which Mike Binder also directed, had moments of promise even if it didn't fully work. Combine all that with Eddie Vedder wailing on a Who cover song and I'm sold.

[Antoine Doinel]

Details on the soundtrack:

Daltrey, Vedder capture the sound of one man's grief
By Glenn Whipp, Film Writer
Article Launched: 03/17/2007 09:00:00 PM PDT

Given that "Reign Over Me" is named after a Who song, a song that filmmaker Mike Binder played incessantly (along with the rest of "Quadrophenia") while writing the screenplay, it isn't surprising that music plays a huge part in the movie's story.
Adam Sandler's withdrawn widower roams the streets of Manhattan throughout the film, headphones clamped to his head, his iPod shuffling through a playlist wholly devoted to songs he loved before he met the wife and daughters he would eventually lose on 9/11.

The playlist features Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, the Pretenders, two key tracks from Bruce Springsteen's landmark 1980 "The River" album and, of course, "Reign O'er Me," which lost the Gallic "O'er" in the movie's title after Sony Pictures marketers tested it and found nobody knew what it meant.

"It's all music that came before," Sandler says, "music he didn't share with his family."

A few years ago, Binder spent a summer working with Who lead singer Roger Daltrey on a screenplay about the band's ill-fated, party-loving drummer Keith Moon. They couldn't agree on an approach and parted, but Daltrey did read — and liked — Binder's first draft of "Reign Over Me."

Cut to last summer, and Binder is trying to convince Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder (a friend of Sandler's) to cover "Reign O'er Me" for the movie's end credits. Vedder resists, offering to write an original song instead.

"He didn't want to sing it because he felt like there was no way he could sing it as good as Roger," Binder says. "And I said, 'Well, I happen to know Roger, and I'm sure he'd be happy with it. If you want, I could get to him.'

"And as soon as I said it, I thought, 'Why did you open your big mouth? How are you going to get hold of Roger Daltrey?' He's an elusive guy. I didn't even know if he'd return my calls."

Binder never had to place the call — causea week later, when he was walking along Manhattan's Sixth Avenue near the Essex House and ran into Daltrey completely by chance. Daltrey called Vedder, and the results can be heard over the film's closing credits.

"That song is a real Roger Daltrey signature singing song, this incredible mixture of joy and pain," Binder says. "Someone told me that (Who guitarist) Pete Townshend said that no matter how much they fight, whenever Roger sings that song, he remembers how much he loves him."

[Commander Shears]

...and who knew Sandler could look so much like Bob Dylan.

At first I thought I was the only one who thought that. Apparently I am still the only one who thinks Fisher King every time I see an ad or trailer for this picture.

Not that I am complaining. With Man of the Year on DVD, it is nice to see Binder cranking them out like this instead of being gunshy like so many filmmakers or doing another Blankman-style mercenary gig. It is very nice to see Cheadle get a lead role. (Of course, he'll probably get nominations as a supporting actor, but I digress.)

Something that does bother me is critics describing this as a change of pace for Sandler. A socially awkward man-child is hardly a stretch for him.

[Titus]

and who knew Sandler could look so much like Bob Dylan.

Exactly what I thought when seeing the trailer.

[tavernier]

Scott Foundas is respectful in the Village Voice.

[THX1378]

Saw it tonight at the preview screening with a friend. It's on my list now as the second best film I've seen this year, Zodiac being the first. Adam Sandler again shows that he's a good actor when he wants to be, just look at Punch Drunk Love for the proof of that. I think that this film is going to spilt people for many reasons. Your ether going to like it and find that it's a great story about grief, family, healing, male friendship, mental health, and what it means to love someone. Or your going to be like some people and find it to be another bid for Sandler to do something smart that doesn't work for him. Also, I didn't know that Mike Binder was the man whom made The Upside of Anger, a film that I still haven't seen, but have heard good things about.

[Antoine Doinel]

Hey THX, I'm definitely looking forward to this and doubly so with your reaction to the film. Just wondering what you thought of the product placement in the film (good, bad, didn't notice?).

[souvenir]

After seeing the film, my opinion of Adam Sandler hasn't changed too much and I'm disappointed that more attention hasn't been focused on Don Cheadle. Sandler's acting is fine, but the role ends up not being much of a stretch from some of his others afterall. He's still a maladjusted manchild prone to fits of rage, but this time with tragedy thrown in. And despite the marketing and press, it's really Cheadle's movie and he shines in a well-deserved leading role. After seeing the guy give solid performances in support for years, I was glad to see him transition so seamlessly into a likeable main character in a studio film.

I did like the movie for what it was (even if the digitally-shot footage was a little distracting at times), but the climax and resolution felt a little too formulaic. The scenes between Cheadle and Sandler (and I liked Liv Tyler and Saffron Burrows too) were the strongest parts by a pretty wide margin for me.

[Antoine Doinel]

Saw this last night and my feelings are pretty much the same as souvenir's. The lead performances by both Sandler and Cheadle - and their interaction together - were the highlight of the film and elevated a very weak script by Mike Binder. The film is far too long and while Binder is good at creating an atmosphere of loss he doesn't know what to do with it and as such the narrative meanders quite a bit.

However, the biggest stumbling block in the film are the characters played by Liv Tyler and Saffron Burrows.

Spoiler

There is no psychiatrist in the profession who would set up two of her patients romantically especially when they are still a long way from recovery.

Otherwise it's a mildly disappointing film made entertaining by its two leads.

[toiletduck!]

Ah, thank you Antoine... I had the same thoughts (re: the spoiler). That situation was so cut and dry, delivered to my doorstep that it was actually kind of frightening that Binder was willing to gloss right over it in a film focusing on recovering from loss in a healthy manner.

-Toilet Dcuk