Rob Reiner made the kind of movies that we all rewatch already. They’re the films that we quote without having to think about it, the ones we hold up as gold standards of comedy, romance, drama and suspense, the ones we wish they made today.
Before his death Sunday, it was not uncommon, or unwarranted, to marvel at his incredible streak of films from 1984, when he made his directorial debut with the mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” through 1995 with “The American President.” Not to mention his comedic excellence in front of the camera, where he made a feast out of even the smallest roles, whether it was telling Tom Hanks about tiramisu in “Sleepless in Seattle” or yelling at Leonardo DiCaprio for his credit card bill in “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
When people bemoan that they don’t make movies like they used to, Reiner’s genre-spanning films from that decade are often the kinds they’re talking about. There might not be a best picture winner in the bunch, but it hardly matters. He made films that we remember.
Here are some of the best and where to watch them.
“This Is Spinal Tap” (1984)
“There’s a fine line between stupid and clever,” Christopher Guest’s guitarist Nigel Tufnel observes in “This Is Spinal Tap” and Reiner’s almost entirely improvised film about a British heavy metal group’s disastrous tour is proof. In its unabashed commitment to silliness, it captured truths about rock ‘n’ roll, the music industry and ego. Reiner even based his documentary filmmaker character Marty DiBergi on Martin Scorsese in “The Last Waltz,” which he might have been a little upset about at first but has come to love over the years. While Reiner and his friends never dared take credit for the mockumentary, he did say that perhaps they made they first “mock rock doc.”
MOST MEMORABLE LINE: “These go to 11.”
WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Roku, TCM, DIRECTV Stream and HBO MAX. Also available to rent or buy.
This coming-of-age classic, adapted from a Stephen King story, follows four 12-year-old boys on a search for a missing kid in 1950s Oregon. It helped make a star out of River Phoenix, along with Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell, and it came to Reiner only because Adrian Lyne had dropped out.
In 2021, Reiner told The Guardian that the film meant more to him than any other he’d made. “It was the first time I did a film that reflected my own personal sensibility; it had a mixture of melancholy, humor and nostalgia,” he said. “I was 12 in 1959, so the music was the music I listened to and the feelings I had in relation to my father, I injected into the film. When it came out and was accepted it validated me.”
MOST MEMORABLE LINE: “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?”
WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Netflix, fuboTV and Philo. Also available to buy.
“The Princess Bride” (1987)
Carl Reiner famously gifted his son William Goldman’s novel, which became his favorite and set him on path to adapt it for the big screen, which many had already tried and failed to do. Norman Lear came to the rescue once more (he funded “Spinal Tap”) and gave Reiner the money to make “The Princess Bride.” They assembled one of the great ensembles with Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Peter Falk and André the Giant to bring to life this very singular, very clever tale of love, adventure and storytelling that would have many more lives as a home video staple.
MOST MEMORABLE LINE: “Have fun storming the castle!”
WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Hulu, Disney+ and DIRECTV Stream. Also available to rent or buy.
“When Harry Met Sally…” (1989)
Reiner enslited Nora Ephron to help take an honest look at dating and relationships in what would become one of the most beloved romantic comedies, following Meg Ryan’s Sally and Crystal’s Harry across 12 years. Reiner’s mother, Estelle, was the key to the most iconic scene in Katz’s Delicatessen, a location which took on a new fame as well.
Around the film’s 30th anniversary, Reiner reflected on its longevity.
“I think people see some basic truths about men and women when they watch that movie,” he told The Associated Press. “To me, the dance that happens between men and women is forever.”
MOST MEMORABLE LINE: “I’ll have what she’s having.”
WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Roku, STARZ and DIRECTV Stream. Also available to rent or buy.
Reiner re-teamed with Goldman to adapt King’s “Misery,” about a famous novelist (James Caan) who after a car crash finds himself in the captive care of a crazed fan (Kathy Bates). Warren Beatty was initially attached to star and told Reiner that he didn’t see it as a horror movie or a thriller but a prison movie. It’s also kind of a comedy. When Reiner rewatched the film to talk about it earlier this year at the TCM Classic Film Festival, he said even he was surprised at how many laughs there were.
MOST MEMORABLE LINE: “I’m your number one fan!”
WHERE TO WATCH: Available to buy on Prime Video and Apple TV.
The death of a Marine at Guantanamo Bay provides the backdrop for the Aaron Sorkin-penned courtroom drama, which went to Broadway before the big screen. In Reiner’s hands, pitting Tom Cruise as a cocky, plea-happy junior lawyer against Jack Nicholson as an intimidating commanding officer, it became a hit that would score a best picture nomination. Nicholson would reunite with Reiner 15 years later for “The Bucket List.”
MOST MEMORABLE LINE: “You can’t handle the truth!”
WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on BBC America, Philo and DIRECTV Stream. Also available to buy.
“The American President” (1995)
Working with another Sorkin script, Reiner returned to the romantic comedy to tell a story about a widower U.S. president (Michael Douglas) who begins dating an environmental lobbyist (Annette Bening). Roger Ebert wrote in his review, “It is hard to make a good love story, harder to make a good comedy and harder still to make an intelligent film about politics. Rob Reiner’s ‘The American President’ cheerfully does all three, and is a great entertainment — one of those films, like ‘Forrest Gump’ or ‘Apollo 13,’ that however briefly unites the audience in a reprise of the American dream.”
MOST MEMORABLE LINE: “You fight the fights that need fighting.”
WHERE TO WATCH: Available to rent or buy.
