Rob Reiner’s name may not be tossed in the ring when discussing the great film directors, but from 1984 to 1992 he went on quite the hot streak as far as filmographies go. Not only did he have a run of six great feature films, he managed the challenging task of never repeating himself throughout the course of that run. Even for some of the great director’s might have difficulty not retreading genres and subject matter that had proven successful for them in the past. It is quite a feat to maintain such a high level of quality across not only films, but genres. Reiner’s film making style plays into his genre crossing ability. Reiner is what you might consider an “invisible” director, preferring to let the camera serve the scene and the story over showy camera moves or flourishes a la Quentin Tarantino. You always know when you are watching a Tarantino flick, and that’s quite something in itself. I put forth that it is equally impressive to direct movies in a way that serves the story and make several movies that might seem like they were made by different directors. And so without further adieu or gilding of the lily, let us explore Mr. Reiner’s filmography throughout his hot streak, movie by exceptional movie.
In 1984 Rob came out of the gates chomping at the bit with feature length directorial debut, This Is Spinal Tap. Spinal tap is a fake documentary, or “rockumentary” if you will, about a fictional British rock band Spinal Tap. This is one of the funniest movies ever committed to celluloid, a pitch perfect send up of the kind of drivel and nonsense that rock musicians were notorious for spewing back in the heyday of hard rock in the 1970’s and 1980’s. We follow the fictional band on their vastly unsuccessful tour of America in support of their latest album, during what seems like the twilight of their fledgling career. We are treated to the clashing of personalities within the band, their antics on the road and some surprisingly catchy original rock tunes written by the actors portraying the members of the band. Reiner plays the director of the rockumentary and plays the straight man against the members of the band as he interviews them on the road. All in all, one hell of a directorial debut for a man who was just getting warmed up.
In 1986, Reiner followed up Tap with a coming of age drama Stand By Me, an adaptation of Stephen King’s Novella The Body. The film follows four 12 year old friends in the summer of 1959, who set out find a dead body located a few days hike away in the woods. Throughout the journey Reiner depicts a very honest and timeless picture of what it is like to be 12 year old boys on the cusp of the rest of their lives, their bonds of friendship, and their shared sense of humour. He also delivers drama in the forms of some of the boys troubled home lives and the gang of older teenagers who bully them and are racing them to the body. As far as coming of age dramas go, this one is pretty hard to beat.
The very next year in 1987, Rob shot the timeless fairy tale classic The Princess Bride. William Goldman wrote the original novel the movie was based on, as well as adapting the screenplay for the movie. The movie follows Westley/ the Man in Black/ the Dread Pirate Roberts, on a quest to rescue his true love, Buttercup from her kidnappers and eventually her nefarious power hungry fiance, Prince Humperdink. Along the way we meet Inigo Montoya, a spanish swordsman who hopes to avenge his fathers death by defeating the six fingered man who killed him. And let us not forget Inigo’s trusty companion, Fezzik, the giant with a heart of gold who really doesn’t want to hurt anyone. The movie strikes the perfect blend between fairytale fantasy and comedy. Under Reiner’s sure handed direction, The Princess Bride strikes a tone that is pitch perfect and has an exceptional sense of pace. There is never a dull moment nor a wasted scene.
Rob Reiner’s hot streak continues with his next motion picture, the timeless and quintessential romantic comedy, When Harry Met Sally. The movie runs on the star power, charisma and chemistry between its two leads, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, written by the incomparable Nora Ephron and obviously directed by our man Rob Reiner. The movie follows Harry and Sally, who first meet on a road trip from Chicago to New York, then meet again years later and become friends, stop being friends for a while and eventually end up together. Reiner knows when to trust the material and his stars and to kind of just get out of the way. The movie is very tightly directed and does not waste a single moment of its 96 minute runtime, even the scenes Harry and Sally spend with their respective friends are essential. From start to finish When Harry Met Sally is altogether smart, funny, sophisticated, lighthearted and witty, and really just the essential romantic comedy for the ages.
Spoiler alert, old Rob still wasn’t done. No this time, in 1990, he figured he would try his hand at the thriller/horror genre, Misery. Adapted from Stephen King’s novel of the same name, the movie follows a very successful novelist, Paul Sheldon, as he is recovered from a near death car accident by a rabid fan, Annie Wilkes, with… alarming mental instabilities. Misery really let’s Reiner flex some different filmmaking muscles than he has ever used before. He gets to play with tension and suspense as Paul is completely at Annie’s mercy, but tries to sneak around her house and outwit her to orchestrate his escape. Reiner’s expert direction has us both in the palm of his hand and squarely on the edge of our seats. Masterful.
Now, Rob Reiner had rattled off five instant classics in short succession and what seemed like striking ease. Rob could have stopped there, Comedy/mockumentary? Check. Coming of age drama? Check. Fairy tale/ adventure? check. Romantic comedy? Check. Suspense thriller/ horror? Also check. What else could he do? What about a military courtroom drama penned by none other than Aaron Sorkin, starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson? Why the hell not. Yeah, that’s right, A Few Good Men. Tom Cruise plays Lt. Daniel Kaffee, a cocky hotshot naval lawyer who has to defend two Marines accused of murder, who may have been following the orders of Colonel Nathan Jessup, played by Jack Nicholson. Once again, Reiner knows when to get out of the way of the script and his stars, and delivers a gripping courtroom drama that explores ideas of honour and duty.
When you stop and consider each of Rob Reiner’s six feature length movies from 1984 to 1992 and then look at them altogether as a filmography, you realize the high level he was working at for that entire stretch of movies. With This Is Spinal Tap, he gave us the perfect comedy/ mockumentary. In Stand By Me, an insightful coming of age drama. The Princess Bride gave us the perfect fairytale/ adventure/ comedy. With When Harry Met Sally he gave us the quintessential romantic comedy. In Misery he kept us on the edge of our seats with his first foray into the thriller/ suspense/ horror genre. And finally he delivered an iconic, heavy hitting courtroom drama. The man new no boundaries as far as genre was concerned. Instead his directorial style during this run was more like that of a chameleon, changing to serve the genre and the story he was telling. I encourage you to go back and revisit each of these movies, it was one hell of a hot streak.