Movies that were coming from the other side of the planet (US) in late 80s beginning of 90s were not kind of movies that would flow together with your feelings, or open up your mind widely, they were rather: “Cobra”, “Comando”, “Bloodsport” etc.. – not that many Hollywood movies were translated to Russian and available for the general audience (USSR) to watch. So we were not too spoiled with Hollywood classics, so to speak..
Later on, in mid 90s, when I first saw “Billy Madison”, “Happy Gilmore” and, then later on, “The Waterboy”, they were translated so poorly, that seemed extremely dull and stupid – and that was my take on Adam Sandler, and that what I took with me to the 21st century…
Things have changed a lot when “Hollywood doors” opened up to a boundless flow of thousands of new and old movies from US to the former USSR, and, of course, when I got to know English a little better.
I watched movie after movie, and little by little everything started to make sense – I learned to see and appreciate the beauty that was always there, that before I’ve never got a chance to see, or the language to understand. That was phenomenal! (well, for me it was).
And I did re-discovered Adam Sandler and his work, it finally got to me after a decade. “The Wedding Singer”, “Big Daddy”, “Mr. Deeds”, “Spanglish” – they all “appeared naked” in front of me, and I could feel their kindness, sincerity, and a big and honest heart!
picture is taken from rottentomatoes
“Reign over me” shows Adam in slightly different angle. While his character (Charlie Fineman) is sort of a combination of “Punch-Drunk Love”, “Big Daddy” and “Mr.Deeds”, it reveals a new inner perception of the world around him. In the movie Charlie “pairs up” with a successful dentist, his former college roommate, Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle), which creates a bridge between Charlie’s insularity and Alan’s overall life unhappiness. During the movie Alan is trying to help Charlie get through an awful tragedy that lives inside Charlie’s mind and soaked with his whole essence. By helping him, Alan comes to realize that Charlie, in spite of his problems has something that such successful dentist as himself does not have – Charlie is free!
Movie is witty, funny and very sad at the same time. It has this unbelievable power, when you’re watching it, you know it is long, but every 5 minutes, closer to the end, you are alert and constantly worried that it is going to end, when you really want it to be “just a little longer”.
As most of the previous work of Adam Sandler “Reign over me” has a big, kind and honest heart! There are certain people in our world who have this unique talent, and are able to see and feel “This Heart” – others just go to see comedy or call themselves “critics”.