Synopsis
A man who lost his family in the September 11 attack on New York City runs into his old college roommate. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing that appears able to help the man recover from his grief.
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Cast
- Adam SandlerCharlie Fineman
- Don CheadleAlan Johnson
- Jada Pinkett SmithJaneane Johnson
- Liv TylerAngela Oakhurst
- Saffron BurrowsDonna Remar
- Donald SutherlandRichter Raines
- Robert KleinJonathan Timpleman
- Melinda DillonGinger Timpleman
- Mike BinderBryan Sugarman
- Jonathan BanksStelter
Recommendations
- 90
Village Voice
If Binder has a considerably heavier hand when it comes to metaphor, his movie nevertheless remains buoyant because the feelings in it are immutable, and because Sandler has never before held the screen with greater intensity. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
It doesn't exploit our emotions about Sept. 11; it simply tells a story that exists because of what happened that day -- one that should resonate with a wide, appreciative audience. - 80
Variety
Sandler (never making a false step while maneuvering though vertiginous mood swings) and Cheadle (deftly commingling instinctive decency with quiet desperation) are individually excellent, and bring out the best in each other. And the picture itself transcends its real but relatively minor flaws to score a satisfyingly potent impact. - 75
Premiere
A thoughtful, involving and sometimes moving film that almost (and I do mean almost) justifies its use of 9/11 as a dramatic device. - 75
Chicago Tribune
Reign works better much better than "Upside" because of the cast and because Sandler and Cheadle together keep it lighter. It's an easy film to watch, but less easy to be moved by. - 70
The New Yorker
That is an unusually gloomy proposition not just for a studio movie but for a society that, despite the acts and sites of official commemoration, must find good cause to forge ahead from catastrophe. Reign Over Me closes with, at best, a cautious hope, leaving us more anxious than when we went in, and throughout the film there is a stunned and bewildered air hanging over the city, like a heavy smog. - 67
Entertainment Weekly
A strange, black-and-blue therapeutic drama equally mottled with likable good intentions and agitating clumsiness. - 67
Austin Chronicle
Cheadle takes what could have been a role as a mere foil and creates a rich portrait of a vaguely discontented married man. Yet the drama sputters once it reaches a contrived and melodramatic climax that feels undernourished and artificial – both less than and more than one had hoped for.
