Can you imagine if Tom Cruise had played the role of Raymond Babitt in Rain Man instead of Dustin Hoffman? The new Mike Binder film Reign Over Me was initially written in that vein, with the filmmaker – who worked as an actor with Cruise on Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report - writing his script shortly thereafter and envisioning Cruise all the way as the 9/11 widower portrayed by Adam Sandler.

Binder’s original vision for “Reign Man” never came to pass, which I think is in some ways a terrible mistake on the part of Cruise (he turned the role down). The part of Charlie Fineman, with its many comedic highs and occasional dramatic lows, would have been the perfect way for Cruise to reclaim the hearts of post-partum, prescription favoring moms. To reference another Cruise film, it would have been a stroke of career revival genius to follow Born on the Fourth of July with Drowned on the Eleventh of September.

As it is, Reign Over Me is Don Cheadle’s show all the way. Not because Sandler is terrible. In fact, unlike his fellow goofy-comedian-gone-serious Jim Carrey, who looked completely lost in The Number 23 - strangely enough, like that actor, Sandler’s production company for this one also has the number 23 in it (“Madison 23”) – Mr. Deeds acquits himself admirably here as Mr. Screeds.

But evidently, the Ocean’s franchise only scratched the surface of Cheadle’s very nimble comedic abilities. Save for perhaps an uncredited appearance in Rush Hour 2, a visit to Fox’s Mad TV and this week’s shtick with Sandler on The Late Show with David Letterman, this is the first time the actor has been allowed to really let the double takes rip. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s some very serious stuff permeating Binder’s dramedy about an uptight dentist (Cheadle) who tries to help his bereaved former college roommate (Sandler) reconnect with his emotions. But for much of the picture, it’s all about the odd couple interaction between our two leads.

In terms of Fineman’s “idiot savantry,” it’s very cleverly - from a Baby Boomers audience appeal perspective - all about plasma screen videogaming and vintage rock’n roll collecting. There is also great symbolism in the notion of Fineman, a man for whom time stopped on September 11th, 2001, clinging to the old world format of vinyl. Not to mention favoring a mode of transportation - a motorized putt-putt scooter - that is about as far from a Boeing 767 airplane as you can get.

Source: http://www.msn.com

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