Adam Sandler? In a 9/11 movie? And it’s good?

I never thought this would happen, but I actually have a soft spot in my heart for Adam Sandler these days.

It’s certainly not that I like “Adam Sandler movies”, per se. I do have fond memories of The Wedding Singer (1998) and 50 First Dates (2004; my comments), and I suspect it’s partly because Drew Barrymore somehow brings out the best in him. But most of his other star vehicles have been a chore to sit through, especially when he takes a good premise and mucks it up, as he did with Anger Management (2003) and this summer’s Click.

Every now and then, though, Sandler has shown that he is capable of something better. Exhibit A is Punch-Drunk Love (2002), which easily made my top ten list, though it kind of works best if you are familiar with the “persona” that Sandler has built up over the course of his other movies. Exhibit B might be his dramatic turn in Spanglish (2004); the movie didn’t do much for me, but Sandler’s performance was admirable, perhaps even impressive.

Now comes Exhibit C. Jeffrey Wells reports that Sandler is starring in Mike Binder’s Reign O’er Me as a man who lost his family in the 9/11 attacks, and who shuts himself off from his emotions … until he meets an old pal played by Don Cheadle. Says Wells:

I’m also mentioning Reign O’er Me because Sandler is damned convincing as Charlie, and despite his having never gone into serious acting territory, his work is good enough here to warrant entry into the year-end derby. I’m serious.

Sandler has never tried to do much more than his patented Sandler shtick (Punch Drunk Love and maybe The Wedding Singer excepted). But his Reign performance is a trip off the reservation. And it all crescendos in a breakdown scene at the end of Act Two that nails it and makes the performance whole. Say what you will about Click and Little Nicky, but Sandler’s Charlie is going to earn serious respect.

I’m also talking about Reign O’er Me because it’s Binder’s best film ever — it’s at least two or three notches better than The Upside of Anger, which I thought was a solid 8.5 with a couple of nicely full-bodied performances by Joan Allen and Kevin Costner.

I don’t know Jeffrey Wells well enough to know how well I trust his opinions, but I am now very interested in this movie.