Synopsis:
A&E’s Biography on Rob Reiner follows a career trajectory
from Carl Reiner’s son to Carl Reiner’s equal.
Rob’s drive to emerge from his father’s shadow
into a world of his own making informs both his work and his
passion for everything he does. Interviews with family, friends,
and professional colleagues, including Carl Reiner, Albert
Brooks, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Kathy Bates, Nora
Ephron, Michael Douglas, Al Gore, Penny Marshall, Norman Lear,
and Tom Cruise, help paint the picture of a life that is filled
with its fair share of success and struggle. For it would
take a combination of determination and talent for Rob to
find his own identity, a journey that involved great support
not from his real father but from a man Rob calls his second
father, Norman Lear. Lear helped Rob make the difficult jump
from TV (All in the Family) to film (twelve features
and counting).
This episode of Biography looks at a childhood surrounded
by the fathers of American comedy: Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks
and Sid Caesar; and tells the story of Rob’s marriages
-- to Penny Marshall, and to current spouse, Michele. In addition
to Rob’s work on All in the Family, we explore six of
Rob’s films with comments from one of the lead actors,
including This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, When Harry
Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men, and The American
President. It was with Stand By Me that Rob
found the balance he was searching for (comedy and tragedy),
and it was with this film that Rob finally went beyond his
father’s work. But after great success as a director
of many different genres, some began to question Rob’s
passion for filmmaking when his focus seemed to be directed
at politics, not to mention the fact that his last two films
never hit the radar screen.
With insight from Al Gore, we look at Rob’s intense
desire to affect social change. In 1998, Rob spearheaded a
successful California ballot initiative that today provides
hundreds of millions of dollars a year to early childhood
programs across the state. Now, because both filmmaking and
social activism bring Rob immense satisfaction, where the
future lies is anybody’s guess. Only time will tell
where Rob decides to focus his endless energy and passion. |
