Nick Reiner, 32 years old, the son, has been charged with murder for killing renowned Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, who were found dead on the 14th. The father and son were witnessed having an argument at a party on Saturday evening, the day before the incident. Nick, the second son between the two, had been living in a guesthouse on his parents’ property until recently, and the mother had been seriously concerned about her son’s mental health in recent weeks.
Amid this, the movie titled *‘Being Charlie’* (찰리로 산다는 것), which father Rob and son Nick, who had long suffered from mental illness and heroin addiction, co-produced together in the past, and their remarks from various media interviews are being revisited. The film was primarily written by Nick based on his own experiences, and directed by father Rob.
In the film, *‘Charlie’* is a man just over 18 years old with a common name, struggling with drug addiction and mental instability. The father, a successful political consultant, repeatedly sends his son to rehabilitation facilities to control him. *‘Charlie’* says, “The problem isn’t drugs, it’s the noise in my head,” and wanders without finding his place in rehabilitation facilities, family, or society. The film is half-autobiographical, based on the relationship between son Nick and his father.
◇Son, drug use since age 15…homeless life if refusing rehab
In real life, son Nick first went to a rehabilitation facility for heroin addiction at age 15 and had gone 17 times before producing this film at age 22. Father Rob, like any father, desperately tried to save his son.
However, Nick said in an interview with the popular magazine *People* for movie promotion: “If I refused the rehabilitation program my parents wanted, I had no choice but to become homeless. I lived as a homeless person on the streets of Maine, New Jersey, and Texas.” He added, “It was a very dark time. It wouldn’t have been strange if I had died on the streets. Surviving was purely luck.”
In a 2016 interview with U.S. public broadcaster NPR, Nick said that while addicted to drugs, similar to the film character *‘Charlie’*, he actually “entered the home of a sick elderly person and stole OxyContin (a powerful narcotic painkiller). At that time, I completely abandoned any sense of morality.”
Meanwhile, father Rob expressed regret in a 2015 *Los Angeles Times* interview regarding how he dealt with his son’s addiction problem.
“That rehabilitation program worked for some, but not for everyone. Even though Nick said, ‘This doesn’t work for me,’ we didn’t listen. We were desperate, and when we should have listened to our son, we believed the experts with their diplomas on the wall.” Mother Michele said, “The experts said Nick was a ‘liar trying to manipulate us,’ and we believed them.”
Nick had been sober from heroin for a while, but in a 2018 podcast interview related to drug addiction, he confessed to using drugs again. He also revealed that while completely high on stimulants, he destroyed furniture in the guesthouse of his parents’ home and experienced a cocaine-induced heart attack on a passenger plane. Regarding why he left the rehabilitation facility in Maine, he said, “I just wanted to return to my old life. I wanted to smoke some marijuana, do some drugs, and live as I pleased.”
◇Film’s son claims *‘mental illness’* is the problem
The film *‘Being Charlie’* closely reflects the real-life relationship between Nick and father Rob. Although father Rob was already a well-known veteran director of works like *When Harry Met Sally*, *The Princess Bride*, and *This Is Spinal Tap*, he made this film truly for his son Nick. Of course, there was no director’s fee.
In the film’s climax, the father says, “I would rather you hate me than die on the streets. What can I do for you?” The son replies, “Do nothing.” The film’s son *‘Charlie’* says his real problem is mental illness: “The problem isn’t drugs. I want to eliminate this mental pain. The more drugs I take, the louder the noise [mental pain] gets.”
◇Father: *‘While making the film, I clearly understood my son’*
Son Nick said in a 2016 AOL interview, “I wasn’t very close to my father when I was young.”
In the same interview, father Rob Reiner said, “While producing this film, I could see more clearly what Nick had gone through than the experts and understand him more deeply. I think I became a better father.”
The son also agreed that their relationship deepened through making the film: “My father had never acknowledged me before. Working on the film was really great.”
The father said in an NPR interview, “My son was the heart of this film. If there’s another chance, I’ll work with him anytime. Nick is talented and I believe he’ll eventually find his own path.” That hope of the father was shattered last Sunday.
