A Movie You Might Have Missed #18 — Reign Over Me

It's been 10 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

18. Reign Over Me

Don Cheadle is dissatisfied with his life. His marriage could be better, as could his dental practice in which he is being stalked by a patient. Trudging along through his routine he is surprised to see his college roommate (Adam Sandler) who he lost touch with long ago. Cheadle had heard that his roommate lost his family in the September 11 attacks and it is soon clear that Sandler welcomes his old roommate's friendship precisely because Cheadle never knew his family.

Although this movie has the potential to be a real downer as it examines grief from several angles, it does not fall into that trap. Thanks to the strength of friendships and comedy the movie wound up being uplifting.