Reign Over Me (2007) R - 3½ Stars

Adam Sandler plays an ex-dentist who has lost his mind after his wife and 3 children were killed in a plane crash. I'm pretty tired of all the silly Adam Sandler movies but he is really good in this role and gave me a new outlook on him. And of course Don Cheadle is just awesome in anything he does. This is a story of the friendship of two men who by chance meeting, find out how much they really need each other at this moment in their lives.

Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler) lost everything, including his practice as a dentist, his entire family, and now even his mind. He's withdrawn from life, and most people, and has become a loner. By chance of fate, he is flagged down by an old college room mate Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle) another successful dentist. Charlie is almost childlike and doesn't seem to remember a lot of details of the past as he has blanked out those memories from his mind. He rides a motorized scooter around town and eventually takes Alan for rides and exposes him to the fun side of himself. While Charlie is helping Alan realizes what it means to be alive, Alan is desperately trying to help bring life back into Charlie.

Sony Pictures
Director: Mike Binder
Writer: Mike Binder
Producers:Michael Rotenberg, Jack Binder

Gone Baby Gone (2007) R - 3 Stars

For me this movie started out on the slow side with a lot of mumble jumble that didn't make sense to me. Like, why were these two young private investigators called, were they famous or something? Affleck's roll I didn't find convincing and there was no chemistry between the couple. The story is tough to follow but finally it took a twisted series of events and pulled itself out of the hole and had a decent story line ending. Thank God for Morgan Freeman but to me, the movie is not as good as some reviews I have read.

Patrick Kenzie, (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) are boyfriend and girlfriend and also work together as Boston private investigators. An amber alert has been issued for a kidnapped girl. The couple watch the news in their home and sympathize with the mother Helen (Amy Ryan) and the police efforts. Three days later Helen's sister Bea McCready (Amy Madigan), and her husband Lionel (Titus Welliver), approach Patrick and Angie to hire them to help find their missing niece.

Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) and Detective Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) are the lead police on the case and they don't take too kindly to the young private "dicks." But they all come to the conclusion that Helen is a drug addict and they know about her involvement in robbing drug lord big wig, Cheese (Edi Gathegi). They figure they can trade the money back to Cheese for the child. Up at the cliffs during the night, they make an arrangement to hand over the money for the child. Instead, things go wrong, shots are fired and something falls into the river below and Angie jumps from the cliff thinking it was the child.

The case is dismissed thinking the child had drown even though the her body was not found. That is until, the two stumble upon new evidence and some very unusual characters, that can cost them their lives, their love for each other and put their morals to the test.

Awards are numerous and include:

2007 - Gone Baby Gone - Austin Film Critics - Best First Film
2007 - Gone Baby Gone - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Supporting Actress
2007 - Gone Baby Gone - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best New Filmmaker
2007 - Gone Baby Gone - Chicago Film Critics Association - Most Promising Director

Miramax Films
Director: Ben Affleck
Writers: Aaron Stockard, Ben Affleck
Producers:Alan Ladd, Jr., Dan Rissner, Sean Bailey