Rob Reiner was perhaps not an auteur on the level of contemporaries like Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg. But it would be hard to find a director whose filmography over a period of around ten years – from the mid-80s to the mid-90s – had a greater and broader influence on pop culture than Reiner’s.
He had a remarkable flair and worked across genres, from mockumentary to romantic comedy to thriller. An underrated skill that few directors can claim. He always let the stories work through his actors, whom he treated on screen with noticeable affection.
If there is one characteristic that unites and defines his work, it is an unwavering humanity and the belief that our better nature will ultimately prevail. Here are eight classic films he contributed to the American canon.
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Music’s heaviest genre reached a critical point in 1983, when “Heavy Metal Day” at the US festival in May attracted an estimated 375,000 headbangers and six months later Quiet Riot scored metal’s first number one hit on the Billboard charts. A year later, three comedians – Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer – starred in the metal mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. Reiner, who directed and co-wrote the film, played the no-nonsense documentarian Martin “Marty” Di Bergi, who accompanies the band on a comically disastrous US tour.
The film’s gags became legendary among music fans. an amplifier that goes “a notch louder” (up to 11), an all-black album cover, a tiny Stonehenge stage set and a “shit sandwich” record review. Some of the jokes even anticipated or reflected real events. In fact, Ozzy Osbourne thought the film was a real documentary. “When I saw him, I was the only one in the audience who didn’t laugh… because these things actually happened,” he once told Conan O’Brien. “When they got lost on the way to the stage, that happened to me too!” —Kory Grow
“Stand by Me – The Secret of a Summer” (1986)
Reiner took the inner lives of young people seriously. That was one of his great strengths, nowhere more evident than in this coming-of-age story that defined a generation. Based on the short story “The Body” by Stephen King, the tale about four boys trying to find the body of a missing child works because it paints its main characters – Wil Wheaton’s sensitive Gordie, River Phoenix’s tough-but-tender Chris, Corey Feldman’s explosive Teddy and Jerry O’Connell’s good-natured, slightly simple-minded Vern – with deep humanity and heart.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. And is another project where Reiner’s direction often doesn’t get enough credit. He guided the young actors, especially Phoenix and Wheaton, to performances that felt like people we knew. Or even like people we were. Maybe because Reiner identified with the story. “Stand by Me means more to me than any other film I’ve made,” he told the Guardian in 2021. “It was the first time I made a film that reflected my own personal sensibilities. It had a mix of melancholy, humor and nostalgia. I brought the music I heard and the feelings about my father into the film. When it came out and was accepted, that validated me.” —Brian Tallerico
“The Princess Bride” (1987)
This action-romance-fantasy-adventure story was initially disappointing at the box office. But became a huge cult classic in the decades after its release. Directors such as Norman Jewison, Robert Redford and even François Truffaut are said to have been interested in adapting William Goldman’s 1973 literary original. But it was Reiner who convinced the author. The first actor he hired was his friend Billy Crystal, who helped set the sharp-tongued yet warm tone of the entire film.
The bedtime story in the story follows farm boy-turned-pirate Westley (Cary Elwes) as he must save Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) from the evil Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). At his side are the intense fencing fighter Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), who wants to avenge his father’s death, and the good-natured giant Fezzik (André the Giant), who just wants to help.
There are fencing duels, fights, torture, revenge, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles and yes, even a little kissing. A childhood classic that still works almost 40 years later. It’s hard to imagine anyone else behind the camera. —Elisabeth Garber-Paul
“Harry and Sally” (1989)
There was a time when Hollywood churned out frothy romantic comedies. But by 1989 they had degenerated into hopelessly cheesy cinema flops. Not so “Harry and Sally,” an unsentimental, hilarious love story that reinvented the genre by asking a very modern question. Can men and women be friends? (Maybe.) Reiner manages Nora Ephron’s snappy script as confidently as the easy-going talents of his stars Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, crafting two timeless performances.
As a director, he naturally enjoys messy people. Ryan’s fake orgasm at Katz’s Delicatessen is one of the most famous scenes in film history, and “I’ll Take What She Had” is firmly embedded in the collective memory.
The film goes beyond the classic romantic comedy, with inventive ideas such as interviews with real lovers, time jumps over twelve years and great supporting roles from Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher. But it’s the rollercoaster of will-they-or-won’t-they chemistry between the leads – and the warm, forgiving look behind the camera – that makes this film one of the best comedies of all time. —John DeVore