MovieChat Forums > Reign Over Me (2007) Discussion > Ok well I LOVED Sandler's performance, b...

Ok well I LOVED Sandler's performance, but i had a problem with the film

posted 16 years ago by katey525
3 replies | jump to latest

Some **spoilers** so beware

It was an ok movie, but it clearly had the potential to be really great. I don't know why Binder chose to have the story be seen through Cheadle's eyes when its pretty clear that the heart of this movie was obviously Sandler's story. The movie should've been shown through his perspective from the start.

I absolutely did not care one bit about Cheadle's family. They were completely pointless to the point of distracting from Sandler's story. Furthermore I still never understood why Cheadle really wanted to help him to the point of getting out of his car in the middle of the road to try and flag him down. Did I miss a line somewhere other than they were roomies in College? Where's his motivation? I think Bindle missed a really great opportunity to really get into Charlie's life.

We shouldn't have been told the fact that he keeps remodeling his kitchen over and over and instead just let us see him do it, and maybe have had flash backs of him talking to her about it over the phone before they died and have us make up our own minds why he would do that. I really loved the part at the Therapists office when he finally breaks down. After I saw that, I just wanted to learn more and more, not only that but I wanted to see and feel it. I especially loved the line when he said "I felt them burning." Really powerful stuff there, i just wish there was a lot more. *sigh* oh well. I guess Binder just didn't have the guts to show that story that or maybe he just didn't have as much confidence in Sandler to have him take us on that journey. Again it was an ok film, but Binder really missed a good opportunity here to make it near flawless.

Anyone else feel similar?

[–] hanlonodavid 15 years ago

i liked this film very much just as it is but what your suggesting would of made an interesting film as well.But for me i knew enough about sandlers character,he was somebody in the depths of despair but he had a friend reach out but i agree more info on cheadle's reasons would of been good.still a great film

[–] HaddonfieldMurders 15 years ago

Well, I think when Cheadle saw Sandler, he wasn't necessarily trying to help him, just wanted to catch up with him. He hadn't seen Sandler since college, but he knew what happened to his family, so he probably thought he wouldn't see him again unless he got out and approached him.

[–] enter-the-cage 15 years ago

I disagree on most points. I think Cheadle's family is important because of how similar his life was to Charlie's. They went to college together, both became dentists, had loving families. It easily could have been his family that had got taken away from him. I think this explains a lot of his motivation for wanting to get in touch with Charlie again.

Also, as mentioned he wanted to get in touch with Charlie because he knew about what happened and hadn't seen him for a long time. Wouldn't you want to talk to your old college friend that you haven't seen in years, especially if you knew he lost his family? I definitely think you missed something there.

And we do get to see him remodelling the kitchen over and over. Everytime Cheadle's character goes to visit Charlie the kitchen is different.