Being Charlie Movie Review: A Painful, Honest Look at Addiction and Broken Family Bonds

On Sunday, December 14th, I noticed many news announcements on YouTube about Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele’s sudden murder inside their home. The initial story is their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, is said to have stabbed them to death. Their 27-year-old daughter, Romy, discovered their dead bodies at around 3:30pm. Their throats had been slit by a knife. Nick apparently is a drug addict, and he opted to be homeless on the streets rather going to rehab. Nick has been arrested, and he is held on bail for 4 million dollars. Rob Reiner and his wife had an argument with Nick at Conan O’Brien’s party on Saturday night, before Rob and Michele left the party. Then, Rob and Michele Reiner were found dead inside their Brentwood, Los Angeles, home on Sunday.

Being Charlie, a 2015 Drama Movie, Based on a True Story

I was shocked by this sudden death because Rob Reiner is a famous celebrity, even though I am not familiar with his wife and kids. I used to watch the seventies sitcom, All in the Family, when I was a kid during the seventies, and I remember it was an entertaining sitcom. I also remember Rob had a small role in the movie Sleepless in Seattle. He directed the movie When Harry Met Sally, which is when he became best friends with actor Billy Crystal.Robert Norman Reiner, born on March 6, 1946, in NYC, NY, died on December 14, 2025 in Los Angeles, California, inside his Brentwood home, along with his wife. He was married twice, first to Penny Marshall, from 1971 to 1981, in which he adopted her daughter, Tracy, and he married his second wife, Michele Singer, from 1989 to their death in 2025. He had three kids with his second wife: Jake, Nick, and Romy. He is the son of Carl Reiner.  Rob was Jewish, from the Bronx, NYC, but he graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1964, and he studied at UCLA film school. Rob died at 78 and his wife was 70. It is an interesting coincidence that Rob and Michele were murdered on December 14th, the first day of Hanukkah, which actually started at sunset, according to my calendar. On December 13^th, Rob and his son Nick had an argument at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party. Rob and Nick were noted arguing about something because they were loud, before Rob and Michele left the party. On December 14^th, Nick Reiner went to his parents’ home, asking for money, mostly to feed his drug addiction. He went to his father first. When they refused, he went into a rage and slashed their necks. Their daughter, Romy, later came home and noticed her parents’ dead body, and she called the police, stating that it was likely someone in the house. It was later noted that Michele was still alive, and she said that it was Nick.Romy had also called Billy Crystal because he had been Rob’s best friend since the movie, When Harry Met Sally. News scenes show Billy and his wife walking toward the crime scene. Someone stated that Billy went inside to see Rob and Michele’s dead bodies. Romy even noted that her brother is dangerous. The police arrested Nick Reiner and booked him, and he is now in a jail cell. It was likely a crime of passion, and he will likely receive a lifetime prison sentence. At first, it was announced that he had a four-million bail, but it suddenly changed to zero bail. This is what happens when addicts refuse to get help. They continue spiralling downhill in their addiction until someone dies, whether the addict or the people the addict kills. On Wednesday, news noted that Nick Reiner was charged with first-degree murder and a lifetime prison term, without parole. They might even change it to the death penalty, depending on how the trial goes. I noticed from a video that Nick wanted to get treatment at home, but his parents wanted him to go to a rehab facility, which had to do with their arguments.On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, I noticed it is Jane Austen’s 250^th birthday, maybe her spirit is still alive on earth, since her birthday is still celebrated. At six, I drove to the Woodbridge meetup. 11 people showed up, while 11 quit last minute. It wasn’t even that cold. I got sweaty on the four-mile walk. I returned home and watched the movie 1408, which is interesting because it reminds me of the demonically haunted Cecil Hotel in LA, although the movie hotel is the Dolphin Hotel, and it takes place in NYC, which is likely fictional. Many mentally ill people with a drug addiction tend to be demon-possessed as well, which leads them to destroy their surroundings in their drug-induced rage and sometimes killing others during an encounter. I think Reiner situation has to do with a family argument gone bad due to Nick’s mental illness, drug addiction, and sudden rage while arguing with his parents.On Wednesday, December 17, 2025, I woke up early but still a little bit tired. I checked the time on my iPhone. I decided to stay in bed, playing on my iPhone. I clicked on YouTube and noticed lots of free movies with ads were displayed on my feed. I was surprised that Being Charlie is on YouTube. I remained in bed, while I watched the movie on my iPhone.Directed by Rob Reiner, written by Nick Reiner and Matt Elisofon, and produced by Rob Reiner, Johnson Chan, Simon Goldberg, and Stephanie Rennie, this 2015 drama movie starred Cary Elwes, Nick Robinson, Morgan Saylor, Devon Bostick, Susan Misner, Ricardo Chavira, and Common. The movie is based on Nick Reiner’s drug addiction since he was fifteen. He has been in and out of rehab facilities many times, and he also has been noted to be homeless at three different states because he refuses to go back to these rehab facilities, claiming that he felt they were too “cultish”.His drug addict friend, Adam, always rescues him and tries to help him because they have similar family issues, and drugs seem to numb and quiet their brain from all the noises. He also falls in love with girl, Eva, at the rehab facility. But she eventually disappears, and he finds her in Venice Beach, looking empty and lost. As Charlie roams the street by himself, he is mugged and beaten, and he ends up calling Adam, who comes to his aid as usual. They hang out together inside Adam’s apartment doing drugs until Adam ODs.Even though Charlie quickly calls 911 and tries to revive him, Adam eventually dies. The movie ends with a happy ending because Charlie turns his life around and decides to pursue standup comedy as a career, since the standup comedy at the rehab facility, on performance day, was recorded on iPhone and posted on the internet, and the video went viral. Everyone encouraged him to continue with this standup comedy because it is his natural talent.I noticed details have already started to change. At first, it was noted that they were in different rooms, Nick approached his father, they argued, and enraged Nick slashed his father before going to his mother. Then, it was noted that they were both found dead in bed together. Then, it was noted that his mother, Michele, was still alive, and she told someone, maybe Romy, that Nick did it, I guess before she lost too much blood and died, as well. And, Romy told the police that her brother, Nick, should be considered a suspect because he is dangerous. I decided to add this YouTube video, which summaries the Nick Reiner’s timeline, before and after the murders. First, it was noted that Romy went alone to the house, and then it was noted she went with a roommate and the roommate called 911. The police later were nervous and they didn’t want to handle the case. The homicide group took over. His lawyer, Alan Jackson, noted that this is a very complicated case, and it is not what you think it is. He needs to figure out the way he will present the case. The time changed from 3:30pm to 2:20 pm.

I watched other videos to get different perspectives by different people. This YouTube video explains that the recent Reiner murders are likely mysterious ritual killings, similar to OJ Simpson killing Nicole Brown and Marilyn Monroe murder because they all lived in the Brentwood, LA area, and it likely involves CIA hit teams. Marilyn was under MK-Ultra, working for CIA to collect information from the Kennedys, and she was pregnant with JFK. He also notes that Reiners were involved in child trafficking and pedophilia, in which Trump’s crazy tribute comment started to make sense that he never cared for Rob Reiner. Trump looked like he was laughing at the murders.Moreover, Nick Reiner has been in rehab for seventeen times because of his drug addiction and mental illness issues, most likely to self-medicate his mental illness with his drug addiction. He adds that many people have died around this time, and more celebrities are likely to be suddenly dropping dead from something and in some way. Another video noted that the Reiners’ murder was a ritual sacrifice.As I check out some videos about the timeline, it sounds like Nick Reiner was crying out for help, and no one was listening to his needs. In the interview for the Being Charlie movie, Nick stated that his father didn’t listen to him because he lacked communication skills. And, Rob admitted that he tends to be very quiet as well as he didn’t communicate much. Rob also admitted he should have listened to the experts less and listened to his son’s needs more. I am sure there is more to this story, and there will likely be more changes along the way.You can watch the 2015 full movie, Being Charlie, on YouTube, free with ads.