“Though the fictionalized Being Charlie is “not my life,” as Nick Reiner told People, the family confirmed at the time of its release that it closely mirrored their real-life dynamics.
“I’d rather have you alive and hating me than dead on the streets,” the film’s Rob Reiner figure, David, says in a climactic confrontation with his son, Charlie. “So what do you want me to do?”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Charlie replies. Then he suggests that mental illness is the real problem, not drugs. “It was never about the drugs. All I ever wanted was a way to kill the noise. But the more I used the louder it got.”
Nick Reiner told AOL in 2016 that he “didn’t bond a lot” with his father when he was growing up. But Rob Reiner said at the time that “our relationship had gotten so much closer” while making the film.
“I said it to his face. I'll say it on the air: He was the heart and soul of the film and any time I would get an opportunity to work with him I would do it,” Rob told NPR. “He's brilliant and talented and he's going to figure out his path.”
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