Alan (Don Cheadle) is a successful New York dentist who seems to have it all. He has a beautiful wife (Jada Pinkett-Smith), his own successful practice and two good daughters. Despite his success, Alan feels lost. His partners have practically taken over his business and he feels like he is suffocating in his stale marriage. Things change when he one day sees Charlie (Adam Sandler), his old college roommate. After he makes Charlie remember that the two were roommates, he begins to reach out to his old friend.
Charlie at first appears like he is really just someone down on his luck. Although he was a dentist, he is now jobless and roams around the city on his motorized scooter mumbling to himself. It is soon revealed that Charlie's wife and daughters were on a plane that crashed into the World Trade Center. The loss of his family sent Charlie into an emotional void; he refuses to even think about his life before 9/11 and has shut himself out to nearly all human contact. He spends his nights listening to 70's and 80's era rock music, constantly replaying Shadow of the Colossus and remodeling his kitchen. Alan decides to help Charlie work his way out of the black hole his life has become, though his intentions may not be as noble as they seem. Is Alan trying to help Charlie, or is he simply trying to recapture some of the freedom that is missing from his own life?
Reign Over Me is a character-driven story that rests more on the performances of its actors than action. I am usually hesitant when actors best known for comedy roles decide to take dramatic ones. Though I wasn't thrilled with Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love or Spanglish, I liked his performance as Charlie. Though it sometimes feels like he is simply doing another child-like character, he is still able to pull off the role with a reasonable amount of respect and believability. Cheadle does just as good of a job as Alan; both characters are depressed, though on opposite sides of the spectrum. Both have withdrawn from life in their own ways, and Cheadle is able to convey this while seeming like he is in control of his life.
The only glaring problem between the two is the lack of chemistry. Given the roles, there is bound to be some understandable distance between the two, while at the same time the relationship has an awkward, almost manic feel. In one scene, the two feel distant while in the next they're best buddies. Some of this can be attributed to the movie's pacing, which is a bit slow. Some aspects take a while to develop while others just seem to happen, which usually results in the odd jumps in the duo's relationship.
Pacing also hurts the emotional attachment you feel towards characters, leading to a few cliché moments. There's Charlie's suicide attempt or the predicable "final conversation" with his wife. The only one that really works is the trial, which is the one scene that really gets you involved with the characters. However, it happens so late in the movie that, when it happens, it feels like a last ditch effort.
Reign Over Me also contains a healthy dose of symbolism. Random things like Charlie's headphones, the music he listens to, or random rides through New York on his scooter give some insight into what is going on in Charlie's head. Though it may come as product placement, Charlie's obsession with Shadow of the Colossus parallels Charlie's story nicely - though I'll let you draw your own conclusions since it can be taken in many ways, especially if you've played the game yourself.
Ultimately, Reign Over Me is a movie that you will either instantly love or feel indifferent to. Again, the slow pacing is what really holds the movie back. This isn't as noticeable if you're the type of viewer who looks for symbolism in every action of the plot, which is one of this movie's bigger components, though anyone just looking for a simple, story-driven movie may find it slow.
