City of Films

Reign Over Me (2007)

THE MOVIE:

Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle) 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. Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler), on the other hand, doesn’t have a job or a family. He used to have both until a terrible loss took it all away.  A chance encounter one night rekindles the friendship they shared. When Charlie’s problems become too much to deal with, Alan is determined to help Charlie come out of his emotional abyss.

THE SCENE:

Alan manages to convince Charlie to see a therapist, Dr. Oakhurst (Liv Tyler). After several sessions, Charlie finally begins to speak about his loss, but the experience leaves him severely jarred and shaken.  In this Scene Stealer we see Adam Sandler give a powerful performance as Charlie breaks it all down for Alan.  It is revealed that Charlie lost his wife and daughters in the September 11 attacks as they were on American Airlines Flight 11.  Music is an important component of this film (the title of the film comes from the song Love, Reign o’er Me by The Who) as Charlie uses his iPod and headphones to selectively filter out the world.  The scene uses Drive All Night from Bruce Springsteen’s The River (one of the best albums of all time by the way) coming from Charlie’s headphones, a great moment in Sandler’s career as well as great emotional filmmaking.