4.0, United States/Canada

Reign Over Me

2007 / Mike Binder > In Reign Over Me, Binder continues displaying the skill of creating laughter in the face of tragedy he utilized so effectively in The Upside of Anger. And in doing so, he may have crafted one of the best films dealing with loss since The Sweet Hereafter, while taking an indirect approach towards 9/11 through a perspective that hasn’t yet been fully explored. Sandler is spot on, but Cheadle, as he so often does, steals the show as the man who you know has problems but just can’t face them. Sandler is his foil and while we see him transform, Cheadle follows suit ever so subtly. It has its slow moments and its awkward moments. It’s not brilliant, and it isn’t groundbreaking, but it has the kind of heart that one cannot often find in Hollywood these days.

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