Charlie Fineman totally shut down after his wife and kids were killed on 9/11. He now spends his days living as a hermit
in his New York City apartment and playing video games nonstop. Why video games? Because it allows him to fight monsters -- but the real monsters are inside him!!!!!! Those sarcastic exclamation points are to indicate my weariness with such leaden symbolism, the likes of which "Reign Over Me" is full of. It's a step backward for writer/director Mike Binder, whose "The Upside of Anger" had real emotions and real people. "Reign Over Me" always feels like it's TRYING to be a Meaningful Film, rather than just BEING one. It wears its earnestness on its sleeve, hoping you'll notice. Charlie (Adam Sandler, doing his Bob Dylan impression) was once the college roommate of Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle), who is now a successful dentist with a wife and kids. Alan hasn't seen Charlie in years, then runs into him on the street one day, only to find that Charlie doesn't recognize him at first. He's blocked out nearly everything about his pre-9/11 life. It's a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder.
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