Reign Over Me

Mike Binder's Reign Over Me is about grief, friendship, and responsibility. Denver's own Don Cheadle stars as Alan Johnson, a dentist in Manhattan facing a sort of mid-life crisis. He is out one day and sees his old college roommate, Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler). Fineman's wife and three daughters were killed on 9/11, and he is now suffering from a sever case of post-traumatic stress disorder. At first Charlie doesn't recognize Alan, but after a while it starts to sink in. What transpires is a reconnecting of sorts.
Charlie has become completely disconnected from reality. He distracts himself all the time, with video games (Shadow of the Colossus - a metaphor for his life), movies (only comedies), and collecting records. He does not want to remember his family, because it hurts. When others try to bring it up he runs, or acts out in rage. He is all alone, by his own design. When Alan comes into his life, Charlie welcomes him because Alan never met his family. Charlie has become closed off from everyone else. In his life we can see the dangerous effects of not mourning, not seeking help but continually pushing everything down and everyone away. Charlie was not meant to be alone, no one is. But he wants to be alone so that he doesn't have to feel the pain of loss. Some people in the film say "just let him be." Yet we must heal, it has been five years, and at some point something must be done. Charlie is mentally unhealthy. But on the flipside, grief is so different for everyone, so personal.
But Reign Over Me is not so much about Charlie as it is about Alan. Alan is married with kids, and lives a "normal" life. But Alan has a boring life, a boring job, and a lack of excitement. When a female patient offers him a certain kind of sexual excitement, he realizes more than ever that he just doesn't like his life all that much right now. Once he reconnects with Charlie (who has basically reverted to acting like a teenager) Alan becomes jealous of Charlie's freedom. Alan wants to be able to stay out all night and skirt his responsibilities. He wants to be a kid again. Alan's wife (Jada Pinkett Smith) points this out to him, and accuses Alan of only helping Charlie for his own reasons (freedom, etc.). How often do we help others, but do so with our own agenda instead of with a servant's heart? Yet a change (redemption) happens in Alan's life. He realizes that he was becoming like Charlie, not letting others, especially his wife, into his world. His shutting others out does not look as extreme as Charlie's, but that could be ever more dangerous because it could be so gradual that no one would notice. So does Alan get to the point, eventually, where he will lay down his life for his friend, with the right motives? At the same time, Alan needs to attend to his familial responsibilities. Can he find the right balance?
Music plays a big role as well. The film gets its title from The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" (the song is featured in the film, including a blistering performance of the song by Pearl Jam during the end credits). Charlie says of Quadrophenia, the album that contains the song, "That album changed my life." Reign Over Me seems to say that love is the answer. We need each other, and we need to love each other.
The film offers some resolution, yet also leaves much to the imagination. It's about trust, about healing, about friendship, and about authentic human interaction. Reign Over Me is a painful, awkward, and fascinating ride.