To some, the fact Reign Over Me is getting little critical attention is somewhat surprising, given its subject matter. Before United 93 (2006) was even made that film was the topic of much discussion about the ethics of filmmaking. The filmmakers were forced to treat the subject as delicately as possible: advance copies were screened for families and press to promote good word and hope that approval was given. When World Trade Center (2006) was announced, it became a hot topic because Oliver Stone was attached and the fear was that he would (overtly) politicize the event. He did not. In today’s climate filmmakers are more aware than ever about the delicacy of dramatizing a major tragedy.

The truth is that the American public bemoaned those films not because they were made 'too soon', but because they were the work of ‘serious’ filmmakers who might potentially start asking serious questions that the public did not want to hear. Hollywood has always made entertainment out of tragedy; the subject of Pearl Harbor was immediate propaganda for the storylines of many war movies during the 1940s. Hollywood officially honored the tragic event by giving From Here to Eternity the Best Picture honors at the Academy Awards in 1953. Reign Over Me is the equivalent for 9/11: the first film that Hollywood would have loved and accepted back in the 1950s.

The rest of the film is broad comedy-drama. It includes, for comic relief, characters like an exuberant secretary (she works for Cheadle, whose character is a dentist), but mainly forces characters and stories into the confines of unlikely and untenable humor. As the film progresses, other stories gain their own levels of interest and some dabble into deeper feelings; however, because the film wants to be pure entertainment throughout, it tries too hard to make bed-mates of scenarios that would be typical in any drama, but unlikely to work in the context of a comedy.

Other plotlines are not so lucky. One subplot involves a young woman making advances on Cheadle while getting a dental examination. Cheadle, confused by this sudden aggression in her, kicks her out and asks his secretary to make sure she never comes back. Instead of simply calling her later to say that she is not welcome again, he yells down the hallway to tell her never come back. The scene is directed to be funny, but the effect for the woman is pure humiliation. When Sandler finds out how good-looking this woman was, the jokes continue on as he shows astonishment that such a woman would be interested in Cheadle in the first place.

But by then the situation is complicated. The simple character who made advances on Cheadle is really a mental patient who was acting out an obsession. Her recourse is that she threatens to sue Cheadle’s dental practice. The tone has therefore changed. The plotline's tone is now serious as the scandal haunts Cheadle personally and professionally. Then the story takes a sentimental turn when she apologizes for her behavior and becomes an unlikely supporter of Sandler through therapy and the working through of his demons; the interest on her part almost seems romantic. So a subplot that began as an unlikely comic situation evolves into a serious issue, and finally ends as a prospect for Sandler’s character romantically.

This film shows little development for Mike Binder’s film career. When he made The Upside of Anger, he had some success, but the story was marred by the uncomfortable relationship of humor and drama. The attempt to humanize the characters through jokes had more kinship with melodrama than anything else. Scenes would hit all extremes and stand out instead of keeping the story flowing well. The improvement in Reign Over Me is that the friendship is more focused and has better development. His earlier problems remain in that he still has a tendency to try to please too much, but the friendship he crafts between Sandler and Cheadle is memorable.

Mike Binder directing.