Reign Over Me

A New York dentist (Don Cheadle) has a chance reunion with his former college roommate (Adam Sandler), who doesn’t remember him at first—in fact, he doesn’t remember much of anything since his wife and three daughters were killed on September 11. Sandler’s fitful drive to prove himself a “real” actor sputters yet again, but in better surroundings than usual, thanks to an insightful and unpredictable (if discursive and overlong) script by director Mike Binder (The Upside of Anger) and a supporting cast with talent to spare (Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Donald Sutherland, Melinda Dillon, Robert Klein). Sandler’s role is shameless Rain Man-style Oscar bait, and he goes at it tooth and nail, but it’s Cheadle who does the real acting (just as Tom Cruise acted rings around Dustin Hoffman back then).