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Reign Over Me Premiere

Written by Mitch Emerson

Wednesday, 28 March 2007

So, I finally broke my premiere cherry. I attended the Detroit premiere of Adam Sandler's new drama Reign Over Me on Sunday,March 18th at the Uptown Palladium in Birmingham, MI. Press check in was at 5:30 but we got into town around 3:30 and walked by the theater on our way to an early dinner. There were four or five die hard fans already in line. I forgot to mention that the movie wasn't even going to start until 7pm, and Sandler wasn't even scheduled to show until 6:15.

After a great dinner at Max & Erma's (you gotta try the tortilla soup!) we headed back to the theater. At 5:00, the line was around the corner and stretched all the way around the next corner. Detroit really knows how to show it's support when it has a mind to. Once we got checked in and standing at our little spot next to the red carpet we chatted with a few other members of the press for a while until I heard somebody say,”That was Bob Seger!” We weren't quite fast enough to get a picture of him as he zipped by us faster than I would have expected. Next came Allen Covert, a friend and regular in Sandler's movies as well as the star of Grandma's Boy. He too was in a hurry but Judi (my wife and photographer) was able to get a shot of him as he went by. Then came the director, a Michigander named Mike Binder who also directed The Upside Of Anger. I didn't get a chance to talk to him but Judi got a real close up shot of him. Then came the man himself, Adam Sandler, along with his father and personal assistant (also a regular in Sandler's films), Jonathan Loughran. Sandler made his way down the carpet pausing to talk to other reporters. He didn't really look like he enjoyed the whole red carpet thing so I just shook his hand and said welcome to Detroit or something else just as lame.

Then we headed into the theater and to our seats. We discovered that we were three seats behind Bob Seger and I kept trying to get Judi to throw popcorn at him but she wouldn't do it. Probably a good thing as I don't think I want to end up on the news as the guy who was harassing Bob Seger. Other big names that were there included Anita Baker, Paul Thomas Anderson and Detroit local radio hosts Drew and Mike from WRIF's morning show as well as Steve Black, another WRIF DJ. Drew and Mike introduced Mr. Bender and Mr. Sandler who did a quick intro to the movie and then the lights went out.

You can read the review of Reign Over Me here. Suffice it to say that Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle knocked it out of the park. Everybody agrees that Sandler's name will be brought up around Oscar time for his performance here. After the movie, Binder and Sandler took turns fielding questions from the audience about the movie making process, inspiration and future projects. And here is where I kick my own ass as I put all of my faith in my little digital recorder and didn't take any notes. And of course, the recording didn't turn out so well. So I apologize that there is no transcription. End of the show, with a small addendum about the crowd of people waiting at the back door of the theater for Adam to leave. They could have had him march right out the front door and no one would have noticed. So that was my first brush with a celebrity. Now maybe I will get up the nerve to actually interview one someday.

Keep reading,
Mitch E.
mitchemerson@hotmail.com

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