In Memoriam
A shocking moment that it is my job to capture.
We are so ahead of things right now that there is scant information available right now except for the truly horrifying news that Rob Reiner and his wife since 1989, Michele Singer, have been found stabbed in their Brentwood home. I’m a bit numb about this news. Goodness knows not all of Reiner’s movies have been good, but several have been genuinely great. Stone-cold classics. And if some of his movies are deeply forgettable, some of them are among the greatest movies of my lifetime.
We all know about his history. Son of Carl Reiner and his wife, Estelle. Graduate of the UCLA film school. Got his start in acting in the early ‘60s. Got his start in writing in the late ‘60s; he and Steve Martin were the youngest writers for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. In 1974, he directed the made-for-TV movie Sonny Boy. It appears to have been poorly received. He directed a segment of a different one a few years later, and then by 1984, he directed his first theatrical release feature. Specifically This Is Spinal Tap.
Frankly I’ve never really liked All In the Family. I know it’s one of the great landmarks of television history, but it doesn’t do anything for me. But he’s great in Sleepless in Seattle, and he’s about the only bit I liked in The Wolf of Wall Street—though I thought he was his dad—and he’s hilarious on his episode of The Rockford Files. He was never the world’s greatest actor, but he was certainly competent enough. He could be funny when it was required, and he knew just how much to put into the character. It’s a real skill.
And then there’s the movies he directed. Yes, he’s back on Spinal Tap in recent months. And that’s fine. But he directed two of the greatest Stephen King adaptations ever, Stand By Me and Misery. One of the best movies of the ‘80s, The Princess Bride. One of the funniest romantic comedies ever made, When Harry Met Sally . . . . Rob Reiner will be in film history for those five movies and it basically doesn’t matter what he did with the rest of his career.
I’m out of knowing what to say. How do you respond to this? We will learn more in the days and weeks to come, I’m sure, and I suppose we’ll have closure. Or something. Answers, I hope. But it won’t be enough. Nothing will be enough. How can it be?
About the writer
Gillian Nelson
Gillian Nelson is a forty-something bipolar woman living in the Pacific Northwest after growing up in Los Angeles County. She and her boyfriend have one son and one daughter, and she gave a child up for adoption. She fills her days by chasing around her kids, watching a lot of movies, and reading. She particularly enjoys pre-Code films, blaxploitation, and live-action Disney movies of the '60s and '70s. She has a Patreon account.
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So many professional musicians, myself included, know every line from This Is Spinal Tap by heart. Farewell, Rob Reiner.
Not the worst thing to happen this weekend – my god, the world is in chaos – but somehow shocking in a way the other horrors aren’t..
I grew up with All in the Family, so Rob’s been part of my life since near the beginning. The one two punch of Spinal Tap and The Princess Bride are enough to guarantee people remember his career for a very long time.
“He could be funny when it was required, and he knew just how much to put into the character. It’s a real skill” — very well said. Marty DiBergi is not the funniest part of Spinal Tap but he is quite funny and if the band is the focus of the movie he is what is making the movie happen in the first place — he moves things along but never calls attention to himself. And this is something that transfers into his direction too, right? Not particularly flashy (although willing and able to put a strong setpiece together, hello Misery’s hobbling) but attentive and attuned to the story and the actors, I am sure no one else gets those performances in Stand By Me. What a horrible loss.
Reiner’s run of critically well received and commercially successful films starting with This is Spinal Tap and ending in the mid 1990s remains unmatched in modern film, particularly when these were not based on blockbuster-guaranteed elements of spectacle and IP awareness. I doubt that this will be achieved in the near future. This is shocking news, yet not even the most horrific incident of violence this week.