Reign Over Me (2007)

Director:

Mike Binder

Writer (WGA):

Mike Binder (written by)

Release Date:

23 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Let in the unexpected.

Plot:

A man who lost his family in the September 11 attack on New York City runs into his old college roommate. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing that appears able to help the man recover from his grief.

Plot Keywords:

Roommate | Friendship | College | Grief | New York City

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Adam Sandler	...	Charlie Fineman
Don Cheadle	...	Alan Johnson
Jada Pinkett Smith	...	Janeane Johnson
Liv Tyler	...	Angela Oakhurst
Saffron Burrows	...	Donna Remar
Donald Sutherland	...	Judge Raines
Robert Klein	...	Jonathan Timpleman
Melinda Dillon	...	Ginger Timpleman
Mike Binder	...	Bryan Sugarman
Jonathan Banks	...	Stelter
Rae Allen	...	Adell Modell
Paula Newsome	...	Melanie
John de Lancie	...	Nigel Pennington
Paul Butler	...	George Johnson
Camille LaChe Smith	...	Cherie Johnson (as Camille LaChe-Smith)
Imani Hakim	...	Jocelyn Johnson
Denise Dowse	...	Psychiatric Hospital Therapist
Anthony Chisholm	...	William Johnson
B.J. Novak	...	Mr. Fallon
Jessica Golden	...	Night Club Comic
Ted Raimi	...	Peter Savarino
Harris Peet	...	Kemp
Molly Binder	...	Becky Fishman
Tommy Nohilly	...	Patty
Robert Harvey	...	Dental Partner
Nick Taylor	...	Taxi Driver
M.D. Walton	...	New York Police Officer #1
Chad Brigockas	...	New York Police Officer #2 (as Chad R. Brigockas)
Elizabeth Andrews	...	Sugarman's Secretary
Neal Young	...	New Dental Patient (as Neal Robert Young)
Lela Loren	...	Dental Hygienist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gina Fricchione	...	Dr. Johnson's Waiting Room Patient (uncredited)
Diana Gettinger	...	Doreen Fineman (uncredited)
Karen Huie	...	News Reporter (uncredited)
Amber Ingram	...	Jenny Fineman (uncredited)
Lou Irizarry	...	Moving Man (uncredited)
Andre M. Johnson	...	New York Police Officer (uncredited)
Joey King	...	Gina Fineman (uncredited)
Lester G. Reynolds	...	Psyche Patient (uncredited)
Arick Salmea	...	Rock Club Guy (uncredited)
Nick Vlassopoulos	...	Examining Doctor (uncredited)

Directed by
Mike Binder

Writing credits (WGA)
Mike Binder		(written by)

Produced by
Jack Binder	....	producer
Jack Giarraputo	....	executive producer
Michael Rotenberg	....	producer
Lynwood Spinks	....	executive producer
Jeff G. Waxman	....	associate producer (as Jeff Waxman)
Rachel Zimmerman	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Rolfe Kent

Cinematography by
Russ T. Alsobrook		(director of photography) (as Russ Alsobrook)

Film Editing by
Steve Edwards
Jeremy Roush

Casting by
Sharon Bialy

Production Design by
Christian Wintter		(as Pipo Wintter)

Art Direction by
Greg Berry		(as Gregory A. Berry)

Set Decoration by
Jon Danniells

Costume Design by
Deborah Lynn Scott		(as Deborah L. Scott)

Makeup Department
Rose Chatterton	....	key hair stylist: New York
Victor DeNicola	....	key hair stylist: New York (as Victor P. DeNicola Jr.)
Kathleen Freeman	....	key makeup artist
Araxi Lindsey	....	hair stylist: Mrs. Pinkett Smith
Ann Pala	....	makeup department head (as Ann Pala Taylor)
Denise Paulson	....	makeup artist
Thomas Real	....	department head hair stylist
Nancy Tong	....	key hair stylist (as Nanxy Tong-Heater)
Toy Van Lierop	....	key makeup artist: New York (as Toy R. Van Lierop)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marlene Arvan	....	first assistant director: second unit, New York
Melody Beam	....	extra second assistant director
Thomas Coe	....	second assistant director: Los Angeles (as Thomas D. Coe)
Louis Guerra	....	second assistant director (as Louis J. Guerra)
Alexander James	....	additional second assistant director: second unit
Deanna Leslie	....	second assistant director: second unit (as Deanna Leslie Kelly)
Jamie Marshall	....	first assistant director
Michael T. Meador	....	second second assistant director: New York (as Michael Meador)
Shawn Pipkin	....	second second assistant director: Los Angeles
Kyle Rudolph	....	second unit director: New York (as Kyle C. Rudolph)

Art Department
Todd Bennett	....	plaster foreman
Jeff Butcher	....	property master: New York
Matthew Cavaliero	....	property master
Denise Ciarcia	....	assistant property master
Danielle Clemenza	....	art assistant
Randy Culberhouse	....	general foreman
Nella Davies	....	decoration coordinator
John R. Elliott	....	construction coordinator
Tim Fassino	....	set dresser: Los Angeles/New York
Brian Feola	....	construction foreman
Adam Goodnoff-Cernese	....	assistant property master: New York
Alex Gorodetsky	....	charge scenic artist
Gina Herold	....	art department coordinator: New York
Chryss Hionis	....	set decorator: New York
Robert Kropfl	....	carpenter
Allan Lane	....	swing
Roger Lundeen	....	set designer
Bobby Mara	....	propmaker foreman
Mike Medina	....	construction foreman
Fred O'Connor	....	propmaker
Hollywood Nick Pagani	....	props: New York
Julio Palma	....	set dresser
Portia Perry	....	painter
Edmond Scott Ratliff	....	set dresser
Shane Reed	....	leadman
Michael Ruby	....	supervising signwriter
Kyle Salvatore	....	on-set dresser: New York
Nick Stanton	....	assistant property master
David Swayze	....	art director: New York
Sondra Thorpe	....	buyer
Kathleen Walker	....	art department coordinator: Los Angeles
Jim Wallis	....	set designer

Sound Department
David Bach	....	supervising sound editor
Thomas Causey	....	sound mixer
Carlos Delarios	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Carlos de Larios)
Brian John Gardner	....	foley editor (as Brian J. Gardner)
Marc Glassman	....	sound effects editor
Laura Graham	....	dialogue editor
Matthew P. Hanson	....	assistant sound editor (as Matt Hanson)
Pamela Kahn	....	foley artist
Richard Kite	....	sound utility
Howard London	....	adr mixer
Linda Murphy	....	boom operator
Kyle Rochlin	....	foley mixer
Cameron Steenhagen	....	dialogue editor
Clayton Weber	....	supervising foley editor
Elmo Weber	....	sound re-recording mixer
Elmo Weber	....	supervising sound editor
Gary Raymond	....	Pro Tools music playback and recording (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Wilfred Caban	....	special effects foreman: New York
Jason Dodd	....	special effects technician
John C. Hartigan	....	special effects coordinator (as John Hartigan)
Steven Kirshoff	....	special effects coordinator: New York (as Steve Kirshoff)
Chris Walkowiak	....	special effects foreman

Visual Effects by
Alexandre Cancado	....	compositor: Luma Pictures
Vincent Cirelli	....	visual effects supervisor: Luma Pictures
Chad Dombrova	....	technical director: Luma Pictures
H Haden Hammond	....	compositor: Luma Pictures
John R. Hazzard	....	animator: Luma Pictures (as John Hazzard)
Brent Hensarling	....	senior systems administrator: Luma Pictures
Justin Johnson	....	compositor: Luma Pictures
Ntana Key	....	second digital colorist: EFILM
Jason Locke	....	matchmover
Valy Lungoccia	....	visual effects
Glenn Morris	....	visual effects producer
Ashok Nayar	....	visual effects coordinator: Luma Pictures
Pimentel A. Raphael	....	animator: Luma Pictures (as Raphael Pimentel)
Steven J. Scott	....	supervising digital colorist: EFilm
Gabe Shedd	....	visual effects staff
Payam Shohadai	....	visual effects supervisor: Luma Pictures
Joey Sila	....	compositor: Luma Pictures
Thanapoom Siripopungul	....	compositor: Luma Pictures
Thomas Mathai	....	data manager (uncredited)

Stunts
Danny Aiello III	....	stunt coordinator
Bill Anagnos	....	stunts
Chris Barnes	....	stunts
Tim Buchanan	....	stunts
Jared Burke	....	stunt double: Adam Sandler
John Cenatiempo	....	stunt driver
John Cenatiempo	....	stunt performer
George B. Colucci Jr.	....	stunts (as George B. Colucci)
Norman Douglass	....	stunts
Roy Farfel	....	stunt driver
Donald John Hewitt	....	stunt driver
Jery Hewitt	....	stunt coordinator
Kevin L. Jackson	....	stunt double
Jennifer Lamb	....	stunts
Joanne Lamstein	....	stunts
John Patrick McLaughlin	....	stunts
Mick O'Rourke	....	stunts
Janet Paparazzo	....	stunts
Michael Russo	....	stunts
Derrick Simmons	....	stunt double: Don Cheadle
Brian Smyj	....	stunt rigger
Brian Smyj	....	stunts
Erik Solky	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Steven A. Adelson	....	Steadicam operator
Steven A. Adelson	....	camera operator
Tracy Bennett	....	still photographer
Curtis Bradford	....	gaffer: Los Angeles and New York
Betty Chow	....	second assistant camera
Tim Collins	....	dolly grip: "a" camera
Howard J. Cournoyer	....	electrician
Julian J. Delacruz	....	assistant camera: second unit, New York
Daryl Didier	....	set lighting technician: Los Angeles
Jamie Fitzpatrick	....	a-camera second assistant: NYC
Jason Garcia	....	first assistant camera
Jeffrey M. Hall	....	gaffer: Los Angeles
Jay M. Huntoon	....	digital video assist operator: Los Angeles
Nils Johnson	....	digital video assist operator: New York
Scott Koche	....	camera production assistant
Jennifer Koestler	....	second assistant camera
Eric R. Laudadio	....	additional first assistant camera
Cameron Lee Michael	....	electrician
Ryan Quinlan	....	best boy
Patrick Quinn	....	assistant camera: New York
Sam Rosedietcher	....	electrician
Kyle Rudolph	....	director of photography: second unit, New York (as Kyle C. Rudolph)
Rigney Sackley	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
David Satin	....	digital imaging technician: New York
T. Daniel Scaringi	....	key grip: Los Angeles
Aaron Schulte	....	electrician
Richard Stevens	....	camera operator
Jason Young	....	rigging best boy electric
J. Dan Wright	....	electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Claire Benjamin	....	extras casting
Kathy Kaplan	....	casting assistant
Jennifer Sabel	....	extras casting associate
Judith Sunga	....	casting associate
Joanna Vanadia	....	extras casting assistant
Grant Wilfley	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Leslie Brown	....	costumer: Mr. Sandler
Nancy Collini	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Ryan Helsley	....	assistant digital intermediate producer
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Michael Nouryeh	....	first assistant editor
Steven J. Scott	....	digital film colorist
Stephen R. Sheridan	....	color timer (as Steve Sheridan)

Music Department
Tony Blondal	....	orchestrator
Stephen Coleman	....	music programmer
Ross DeRoche	....	music copyist
George Doering	....	musician
Shawyne Fisher	....	choir coordinator
Trevor Gilchrist	....	music programmer: score
Greg Hayes	....	score recordist
Dave Jordan	....	music supervisor
Chet Leonard	....	music playback
Dan Savant	....	music contractor
Nick South	....	music editor
Greg Townley	....	score mixer

Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver

Other crew
Carlos A. Acosta	....	unit location assistant
Edward Allen	....	production accountant
Monica Barraza	....	assistant production coordinator
Bonnie Belknap	....	food stylist
Phil Besa	....	accounting clerk: Los Angeles
Bryan Binder	....	assistant: Mr. M. Binder
Jeremy T. Black	....	production assistant (as Jeremy Thomas Black)
Deon Boyce	....	production assistant
Lauren Brezner	....	assistant: Mr. M. Binder
Adam Butera	....	production assistant
Daniel Cabeza	....	production assistant
Chris Camuto	....	accounting clerk
Nick Carr	....	location assistant: New York
Barbara Casner	....	assistant production coordinator
Frank Cattano	....	assistant location manager: New York
Ricky Cuevas	....	first assistant accountant
Roberto De Jesus	....	production assistant: New York
Jacques Derosena	....	photo double
John DeSimone	....	production coordinator: New York
Nat Dinga	....	assistant: Mr. J. Binder
James R. Dunham	....	set production assistant: Los Angeles
Lichelle D. Ebner	....	stand-in: Rae Allen
Lauren E. Enfield	....	production assistant
Shayla Freeman	....	production assistant: second unit
Sean P. Galvin	....	set production assistant: Los Angeles
Timothy Goldberg	....	location assistant: New York
Joe Guest	....	location manager: second unit
Ronald E. Hairston	....	key craft service
Melanie Hall	....	set production assistant: Los Angeles (as Melanie Sheerer)
Elizabeth Hannah	....	production intern: New York
Paul Hargrave	....	location manager
James Hinton	....	assistant accountant
Robert S. Hoffman	....	set production assistant (as Rob Hoffman)
Robert Hume	....	production coordinator
Michael B. Johnson	....	production accountant: New York
Patrice Karavas	....	office production assistant: Los Angeles
Nancy Karlin	....	script supervisor
Ket Lamb	....	stand-in: Los Angeles
Nicole Diane Lederman	....	production assistant: New York
James D. Lee	....	location manager: New York
James Lesage	....	production assistant
Jonathan Loughran	....	assistant: Mr. Sandler
Faya Madrid	....	production assistant
Nicole Mandich	....	stand-in
Rosemary Morgan	....	set production assistant: Los Angeles
Fisher Pence	....	assistant: Mr. Rotenberg
Jennifer Perkins	....	assistant: Mr. Sandler (as Jennifer Masters)
Bronwyn Preston	....	unit publicist
Shane Ralston	....	stand-in: Adam Sandler
Nicole Real	....	assistant set production assistant
Johnny Renaudo	....	post assistant accountant (as Johnny S. Renaudo II)
Guillaume Renberg	....	remote head technician: New York
Ulises Rodriguez	....	production secretary: New York
Rick Roesch	....	payroll accountant
Loriel Samaras	....	set production assistant
Elyse Sams	....	set production assistant: Los Angeles
V.W. Scheich	....	production coordinator
Michael James 'Scotty' Scott	....	second assistant accountant
Maurice Sessoms	....	key set production assistant: New York
Daryl Sledge	....	production assistant
Jason Sugars	....	assistant: Mr. Cheadle
Nick Theodorakis	....	digital imaging engineer: Los Angeles
Scott Trimble	....	key assistant location manager: Los Angeles
Scott Trimble	....	location scout: Los Angeles
Paul Wielunski	....	production assistant
Matthew H. Wiesner	....	location assistant
Maxine Brooks	....	studio teacher (uncredited)
B.J. Smith	....	set medic: Los Angeles (uncredited)

Thanks
Johann Benét	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Relativity Media (in association with)
• Madison 23
• Sunlight Productions
• GH Three

Distributors

• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Luma Pictures (visual effects by)

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes
• David Haddad  transportation equipment
• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints
• Direct Tools & Fasteners  expendables
• EFilm  digital intermediate
• Grant Wilfley Casting  extras casting
• Haddad's  transportation equipment
• Lakeshore Records  soundtrack
• Madison Gate Records  "Love, Reign O'er Me" single
• Moonlight Post  titles
• Movie Movers  trailers
• Panavision  Genesis camera system
• Reel Team, The  loop group
• Sony Pictures Studios  post-production sound services
• Square Tite Entertainment & Marketing  casting

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual references

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 | Ireland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-11 | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | USA:R (certificate #42006) | Germany:6 | Sweden:7 | South Korea:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Relativity Media

Trivia:

The video game that Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle play is Shadow of the Colossus (2005) (VG) (Shadow of the Colossus). It's a game about a man who slays colossi in an attempt to bring a woman back to life. Early scripts had Sandler play a simple, 1980s-style game, until editor Jeremy Roush recalled that his own father watched the movie Aliens (1986) obsessively as a "thinly veiled kind of Vietnam veteran kind of story". Seeing the imagery of the colossi falling, he realized "someone who was dealing with 9/11 would be engrossed by a giant that keeps collapsing over and over again," so he demonstrated it to the director and actors. With the approval of the game's director Fumito Ueda, it was included in the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: In some scenes with the GoPed, the gas tank is on the right side, while in other scenes it's on the left.

Quotes:

Mr. Fallon:Your honor...
Judge Raines:[interrupts] Shut up!
[long pause]
Judge Raines:I'm serious. I want you to shut up Mr. Fallon. This is not going well for you, you hear me? Shut up.
Mr. Fallon:Yes... shut up.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 24 March 2007" (2007)

Soundtrack:

The Birds of St. Marks

Can we get Chinese now?…Reign Over Me

Love hurts. That, I think, is the main message Mike Binder's newest film Reign Over Me brings across. Whether that love has caused your relationship to become stagnant, or has brought anger from the one you love cheating for years, or has broken your heart to the point of being unable to open yourself up to the world, love hurts. The great thing about this film, however, is not in its portrayal of these lost souls trying to let their past heartbreaks go, but in the eventual restart of new bonds for the future. No one in this drama is perfect; they are all at some degree trapped emotionally in relationships that they can't free themselves from alone. There is some heavy subject material here and I credit Binder for never making the story turn into a political diatribe, but instead infusing the serious moments with some real nice comedic bits allowing the tale to stay character-based and small in scale compared to the epic event that looms overhead. What could have become a trite vehicle for opinions on how 9-11 effected us all, ends up being a story about two men and a connection they share that is the only thing which can save their lives from a life of depression and regret.

This is a new career performance for Adam Sandler. I like to think that my favorite director Paul Thomas Anderson was the first to see the childish, pent-up anger in his stupid comedies as something to use dramatically. The juvenility of a character like Billy Madison allows for laughs and potty humor, but also can be used to show a repressed man, shy and shutout to the world around him—a man with no confidence that needs an event of compassion to break him from his shell. Anderson let Sandler do just that in his masterpiece Punch-Drunk Love and Mike Binder has taken it one step further. Sandler plays former dentist Charlie Fineman whose wife and three kids were killed in one of the planes that took down the World Trade Center on 9-11. That one moment crushed any life that he had and as a result, he became reclusive and started to believe he couldn't remember anything that happened before that day. He really delivers a moving portrait of a man trying to keep up the charade in his head while those around him, those that love him, try and open him up to the reality of what happened and what the future holds. Always on edge and ready to snap at any moment when something is mentioned to spark the memory of his perished family, he goes through life with his iPod and headphones, shutting out everything so as not to be tempted remember.

Reign Over Me is not about Charlie Fineman though, it is about dentist and family man Alan Johnson. A man that has trapped himself into a marriage and dental practice that both have stagnated into monotony, Johnson needs as much help in his life as his old college roommate Charlie does. Played perfectly by the always brilliant Don Cheadle, Johnson has lost his backbone to try and change his life. He has no friends and when he sees Charlie, by chance, one day, his life evolves into something he hasn't felt in 15 years. He revels in the chance to go out with an old friend no matter how much he has changed from the death of his family. Cheadle's character wants to revert back to the college days of hanging out and Sandler's doesn't mind because all that was before he met his wife. The two men get what they want and allow themselves to grow close despite the years of solitude that used to rule their lives. Once they begin opening up though, it is inevitable that the subject of the tragedy will creep up and test the façade they have created for themselves.

The supporting cast does an amazing job helping keep up appearances for the two leads. Jada Pinkett Smith has never been an actress that impressed me and throughout the film played the tough as nails wife nicely, but it is her final scene on the phone with Cheadle that really showed me something different and true. Liv Tyler is a bit out of her element as a psychiatrist, but the movie calls her on this fact and makes the miscasting, perfect casting. The many small cameos are also effective, even writer/director Mike Binder's role as Sandler's old best friend and accountant, (my only gripe here is why he feels the need to put his name in the opening credits as an actor when it is everywhere, considering it is his film). Last but not least is the beautiful Saffron Burrows. She is a great actress and plays the love- crushed divorcée trying to put her life back together wonderfully. A role that seems comic relief at first, but ends up being an integral aspect for what is to come.

Binder has crafted one of the best dramatic character studies I have seen in a long time. The direction is almost flawless, (the blurring between cuts and characters in the fore/ background really annoyed me in the beginning), the acting superb, and the story true to itself, never taking the easy way out or wrapping itself up with a neatly tied bow at the conclusion. Even the music was fantastic and used to enhance, not to lead us emotionally, (why after two great uses of the titular song by The Who did Binder feel the need to use the inferior Eddie Veddar remake for the end, I don't know, but it did unfortunately stick out for me). Reign Over Me is a film about love and how although it can cause the worst pain imaginable, it can also save us from regret and allow us to once again see the world as a place of beauty and hope.