Another Good Movie

Jason and I got out for a "date night" last night (thanks to Jennifer babysitting!). We had dinner at the Magic Wok and then went to check out what movies were playing. There was nothing we had heard of or cared to see, so we decided to take a chance on a movie we knew nothing about -- something we very rarely do.

The movie was Reign Over Me starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle. I know ... Adam Sandler. Normally his presence in a movie is a deal-breaker for me -- I just can't watch his asinine pratfall comedies. Although after Spanglish I did have to concede that he actually can act, so I was willing to pry my mind open a crack. And I do like Don Cheadle, ever since Crash.

So this movie was ... a lot better than I'd thought it would be. Reviews have been mixed, and I can understand what some critics disliked -- the plot rambles a little; it certainly could have been tighter and I'm not sure the filmmakers really knew what they wanted to do with the ending.

But ... that said, Jason and I both thoroughly enjoyed it and found it moving and absorbing. I thought Adam Sandler did an amazing job of portraying a man completely lost in grief as a result of a horrible tragedy. The film did a better job than any movie I've ever seen of exploring how a person recovers (or doesn't recover) from a terrible loss; best of all, it avoided the movie cliche of assuming that once a person opens up and talks about the tragedy, things will start to get better. Because as most of us know, that's when your carefully constructed coping mechanisms fall apart and things really get messy. Both the lead actors are fabulous in this film (as are many fine actors in smaller roles, especially Donald Sutherland in a memorable cameo) but it's Adam Sandler who steals the show by brilliantly showing Charlie Fineman falling apart.

In other news ... I have some new book reviews up at Compulsive Overreader, and I am working on a Grand Plan for a website upgrade which I will unveil sometime over the next few weeks ... watch this space for further developments!