The Best of Rob Reiner

1947-2025

          A lot of times I'll make character driven films -- stories that involve people.

           1).      The Princess Bride                                                       1987

           2).      Misery                                                                            1990

           3).      The Sure Thing                                                             1985

           4).      This is Spinal Tap                                                         1984

           5).      When Harry Met Sally                                                 1989

           6).      The American President                                              1995

           7).      Stand By Me                                                                 1986

           8).      LBJ                                                                                2016

           9).     Albert Brooks: Defending My Life                              2023

          10).    Rumor Has It                                                                 2005

The son of producer, director, writer, and comic genius Carl, Rob Reiner quickly shed the nepo baby rubric After bit parts in his Dad's films Enter Laughing and Where's Poppa?, Reiner landed the role of Mike "Meathead" Stivic on what would prove to be the most popular sitcom of the early 1970s, All in the Family. There he would mouth the the liberal pieties of producer Norman Lear in response to the reactionary rants of series star Carrol O'Connor who played America's most beloved bigot, Archie Bunker. After the long run of this series, Reiner would pretty much abandon acting for the director's chair. Besides All in the Family, the best example of Reiner, as an actor, is a little seen television movie he made with his first wife Penny Marshall, More Than Friends. 

Overall, Reiner proved to be a versatile middlebrow director with more misses than hits. I think a good comparison as a director is Ron Howard, another Hollywood scion whose best films are pleasant enough, but lack personality. Reiner could get playful performances even from humorless bricks like Michael Douglas, but had little visual flair or sense. Even Reiner's best film could have used a little more visual pixie dust. I find A Few Good Men to be Oscar bait grandstanding, a charge that could be leveled at a number of his lesser efforts. His career fell off a cliff both artistically and commercially after The American President. His only hit this century was the odious Christmas cash-in The Bucket List. Still, he was largely responsible for a handful of films that will entertain audiences as long as cinema exists.