by Josh Sewell
Last weekend was tragic for several reasons, including deadly mass shootings at Brown University and Australia’s Bondi Beach. However, movie and television fans were further devastated on Sunday night, when we learned that legendary actor/director/producer/activist Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were murdered by their son Nick, who had a long history of issues with substance abuse and mental health.
Reiner was revered in the entertainment community and the political world, where he fought for causes important to him – as evidenced by the countless heartwarming personal stories that flooded social media in the days after the horrific news broke. But he was also beloved by everyday people who never met him, although they felt a deeply personal connection because of his astonishing seven-decade career as a performer and filmmaker.
His most prominent works in both arenas are iconic. Of course, older viewers knew him as Mike Stivic (aka “Meathead”), the fiercely liberal son-in-law of bigot Archie Bunker on All in the Family. Over the next 50 years, he delivered great supporting turns in dozens of other films and television shows including Postcards from the Edge, Sleepless in Seattle, Primary Colors, The Wolf of Wall Street, New Girl, Hollywood, The Good Fight and The Bear.
However, his work behind the camera was even more astonishing. After his time on Norman Lear’s groundbreaking sitcom, he kicked off one of the most incredible directing careers in Hollywood history. Starting with his 1984 debut This is Spinal Tap and throughout the next decade, he made seven critically acclaimed, financial hits in a row, almost every year: 1985’s The Sure Thing, 1986’s Stand by Me, 1987’s The Princess Bride, 1989’s When Harry Met Sally…, 1990’s Misery and 1992’s A Few Good Men.
Except for the underrated The Sure Thing (a cute road movie/romcom with John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga that has become hard to find in the streaming age), all those films became stone-cold classics and foundational works in their respective genres. It would’ve been eight hits in a row – except Reiner had to make Hollywood history in a more notorious way by directing one of the biggest fiascos of the ’90s.
North, which hit theaters in 1994, was a well-intentioned family flick with a bunch of celebrity cameos that got savaged by critics and tanked at the box office. Reiner took it in stride, as evidenced by a hilarious bit from his 2000 roast (you can find it on YouTube) where he recited eminent critic Roger Ebert’s infamous review of the film: “I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it.”
After reading one scathing sentence after another, Reiner concluded, “When you read between the lines it’s not that bad!” One of the reasons he could probably be so jovial about it later is he bounced back in a big way with 1995’s The American President. That romantic dramedy reunited him with A Few Good Men screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and served as a dress rehearsal for The West Wing.
Reiner’s career never reached those creative heights again, but there were still some memorable films scattered throughout his filmography over the next three decades. The 1999 marriage-in-crisis drama The Story of Us isn’t the best, but it has engaging performances from Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer. The 2007 dramedy The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson (in his penultimate role) and Morgan Freeman, took a critical drubbing, but it was Reiner’s last box office smash. I really liked 2010’s sadly overlooked Flipped, a cute coming-of-age romance that played to his old Stand by Me strengths.
As fate would have it, Reiner’s final film hit theaters earlier this year. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is a surprisingly sweet follow-up to the groundbreaking mockumentary that started it all for him. It wasn’t a hit and nowhere near as brilliant as the original (although I don’t think anyone expected it to be), but there are some great comedic bits and terrific music. In hindsight, it’s even more poignant and melancholy.
Unfortunately, in light of recent events, the most chilling entry on his resumé is now 2015’s Being Charlie. The stark, little-seen drama was co-written by his son Nick that centered on a drug-addicted teen (Nick Robinson) who has a troubled relationship with his famous father (Cary Elwes). The two Reiners clearly made the film to work through their own issues, but it will forever be tarnished by its horrifying, prophetic subject matter.
It’s also crucial to mention his work with Castle Rock, the production company he co-founded in 1987. Even without taking his directing and acting careers into account, Reiner is responsible for a mind-blowing slate of films including The Shawshank Redemption, Richard Linkater’s Before Trilogy, City Slickers, In the Line of Fire, Lone Star, The Green Mile, Best in Show, Miss Congeniality, The Polar Express, Michael Clayton and way too many others to mention. Oh, and let’s not forget a little sitcom called Seinfeld.
Rob Reiner was one of the modern era’s greatest “nepo babies,” using the career boost he got from his father, fellow Hollywood legend Carl Reiner, to forge his own path and use his talents to blaze a markedly different trail. He will be sorely missed by family, friends, colleagues and fans, but he left behind an astonishing body of work that will be admired and celebrated for generations to come.
Reiner was revered in the entertainment community and the political world, where he fought for causes important to him – as evidenced by the countless heartwarming personal stories that flooded social media in the days after the horrific news broke. But he was also beloved by everyday people who never met him, although they felt a deeply personal connection because of his astonishing seven-decade career as a performer and filmmaker.
His most prominent works in both arenas are iconic. Of course, older viewers knew him as Mike Stivic (aka “Meathead”), the fiercely liberal son-in-law of bigot Archie Bunker on All in the Family. Over the next 50 years, he delivered great supporting turns in dozens of other films and television shows including Postcards from the Edge, Sleepless in Seattle, Primary Colors, The Wolf of Wall Street, New Girl, Hollywood, The Good Fight and The Bear.
However, his work behind the camera was even more astonishing. After his time on Norman Lear’s groundbreaking sitcom, he kicked off one of the most incredible directing careers in Hollywood history. Starting with his 1984 debut This is Spinal Tap and throughout the next decade, he made seven critically acclaimed, financial hits in a row, almost every year: 1985’s The Sure Thing, 1986’s Stand by Me, 1987’s The Princess Bride, 1989’s When Harry Met Sally…, 1990’s Misery and 1992’s A Few Good Men.
Except for the underrated The Sure Thing (a cute road movie/romcom with John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga that has become hard to find in the streaming age), all those films became stone-cold classics and foundational works in their respective genres. It would’ve been eight hits in a row – except Reiner had to make Hollywood history in a more notorious way by directing one of the biggest fiascos of the ’90s.
North, which hit theaters in 1994, was a well-intentioned family flick with a bunch of celebrity cameos that got savaged by critics and tanked at the box office. Reiner took it in stride, as evidenced by a hilarious bit from his 2000 roast (you can find it on YouTube) where he recited eminent critic Roger Ebert’s infamous review of the film: “I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it.”
After reading one scathing sentence after another, Reiner concluded, “When you read between the lines it’s not that bad!” One of the reasons he could probably be so jovial about it later is he bounced back in a big way with 1995’s The American President. That romantic dramedy reunited him with A Few Good Men screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and served as a dress rehearsal for The West Wing.
Reiner’s career never reached those creative heights again, but there were still some memorable films scattered throughout his filmography over the next three decades. The 1999 marriage-in-crisis drama The Story of Us isn’t the best, but it has engaging performances from Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer. The 2007 dramedy The Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson (in his penultimate role) and Morgan Freeman, took a critical drubbing, but it was Reiner’s last box office smash. I really liked 2010’s sadly overlooked Flipped, a cute coming-of-age romance that played to his old Stand by Me strengths.
As fate would have it, Reiner’s final film hit theaters earlier this year. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is a surprisingly sweet follow-up to the groundbreaking mockumentary that started it all for him. It wasn’t a hit and nowhere near as brilliant as the original (although I don’t think anyone expected it to be), but there are some great comedic bits and terrific music. In hindsight, it’s even more poignant and melancholy.
Unfortunately, in light of recent events, the most chilling entry on his resumé is now 2015’s Being Charlie. The stark, little-seen drama was co-written by his son Nick that centered on a drug-addicted teen (Nick Robinson) who has a troubled relationship with his famous father (Cary Elwes). The two Reiners clearly made the film to work through their own issues, but it will forever be tarnished by its horrifying, prophetic subject matter.
It’s also crucial to mention his work with Castle Rock, the production company he co-founded in 1987. Even without taking his directing and acting careers into account, Reiner is responsible for a mind-blowing slate of films including The Shawshank Redemption, Richard Linkater’s Before Trilogy, City Slickers, In the Line of Fire, Lone Star, The Green Mile, Best in Show, Miss Congeniality, The Polar Express, Michael Clayton and way too many others to mention. Oh, and let’s not forget a little sitcom called Seinfeld.
Rob Reiner was one of the modern era’s greatest “nepo babies,” using the career boost he got from his father, fellow Hollywood legend Carl Reiner, to forge his own path and use his talents to blaze a markedly different trail. He will be sorely missed by family, friends, colleagues and fans, but he left behind an astonishing body of work that will be admired and celebrated for generations to come.
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com or on BlueSky @joshsewell.bsky.social
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