This particular film is one of those great masterpieces that go unnoticed, for estrange reasons.
I think that we, as humans, avoid most of the times taking a look in a mirror of our inner nature. We enjoy watching the best values in romantic, heroes or altruistic films, or either we see the darkest and most horrible things that mankind is able to do, as a escape to let go our rage.
The fact is that there is just one aspect that seems incompatible with cinema: Mediocrity. But WHY? Why are we so afraid to see a history about someone that you have more things in common that any other film character.
The first answer could be that it would be boring, we already have our daytime shit to deal with. In fact, there are tons of great histories that happened to common people. Here comes films like “21 grams” or “Crash” with a exaggerate drama density. There is also the know as Realistic Cinematography, witch tries to sell extreme and punctual events as daily life, like Larry Clark's.
None of this films get the point, I can't reach any conclusion, I do not feel any empathy for those false emotions. Then comes films like “Reign Over Me” or “Adaptation”, that make me taste the characters as if they were my neighbors, family or even myself.
Another aspect of this kind of films that makes them so good is that the main argue, is hidden between the lines. The big business is out of the spotlight, seducing the watcher from their inside.
At this point, I hope that I already made you get this film and watch it before continue reading, because now I will analyze some of its content, spoiling it. I'm not making a classic review saying typical stuff, I want to rip it out a little deeper.
If you think about it, it is also quite pointless, right? I'm writing thousands words about it, I obviously like the actors, screenplay, music, credits font...
Once again, stop here if you did not watch the film. I bet you never heard about this film, for the reasons I already explained. The funny thing is that this is not a B-Series film, or home made. This is a Adam Sandler and one of the most sexy woman in the world, Liv Tyler.
If you take a look at the storyline in imdb, for example this is what you will find:
“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.”
Bullshit. The funniest thing is that one dude, neojeff2199, writes this alternative storyline below:
“Alan Johnson has everything he needs to get through life: a good job, a beautiful and loving wife, and their wonderful children. Yet he feels isolated because he finds having a hard-working job and managing a family too much to handle and has no one to talk to about it. Charlie Fineman, on the other hand, doesn't have a job or a family. He used to have both until a terrible loss, and the grief caused him to quit his job and isolate himself from everyone around him. As it turns out, Alan and Charlie were roommates in college, and a chance encounter one night rekindles the friendship they shared. But when Charlie's problems become too much to deal with, Alan is determined to help Charlie come out of his emotional abyss.”
Now we're talking, but not far enough.
Q1: Why does Alan insist in helping Charlie?
Well, it is obvious that Charlie has a serious post-traumatic depression dragging him into insanity. But the thing that makes Alan stay with Charlie is that he misses the freedom, the lack of preoccupations. As his own wife says, Alan has envy of him. Charlie is his scapegoat from boring life.
When Alan was told that his father passed away, Charlie doesn't give a fuck, and Alan became angry but inside he would lake to take it so easy.
The fact is that Charlie has no life, but he has will to live in his own world and meanwhile Alan has everything but this passion.
Q2: Donna?
Since Eva's Apple until the end of times, Women will represent the temptation. It is a great fact of Alan that he does not bite it. In fact, he seems interested in Angela but he only wants professional help. Even if he is not happy with his life and his wife and he decides to make crazy things, he stays loyal all the time avoiding the easy solution. Just great.
Q3: Charlie's in-laws?
They are supposed to be all the family that remains. However, they are just vultures greeding the compensation. How fucked is humanity? Yes... but we find also his manager that does not cheat him or the typical angry woman in his house, that prevent strangers from disturbing. Ironically, those are usually almost evil characters.
One of the best moments is when they realized that they have been a couple of parasites and they feel really ashamed of their selves.
Q4: What's wrong with Adam's wife?
At first, she looks like a good woman and a good wife. But there's a thing that shocks me. She knows that Adam is not happy and that he is having some trouble... and what makes she? Just nothing. He could be with another woman and she doesn't even try to improve their relationship or helping Adam in any way, she lets it go.
Q5: Why this title, Reign Over Me?
End credit's song, “Love Reign O'ver Me” by The Who, but what has it to do with this film?
Its seems to talk about lovers, if you take a look at the first verse. However, last verse is:
On the dry and dusty road
The nights we spend apart alone
I need to get back home to cool cool rain
I can't sleep and I lay and I think
The night is hot and black as ink
Oh God, I need a drink of cool cool rain
But who says this, Adam or Charlie? Adam seems to be the victim in this film, but it is Charlie who feels alone. This comes back to the idea of who is helping who in point 1.
It is anyway a perfect song for a epic ending.
Q6: ...
I could go further but I would never finnish. But I would take a couple of minutes thinking about what is wrong in this perfect life that makes us so forsaken and inhuman.
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0490204/
The best thing when you discover and enjoy a unseen film like this, you even feel as you found a treasure. I hope you did.
