From Meathead to Mr. Director

Over the past decade Reiner has established a reputation as one of Hollywood’s best feature directors. Yet to thousands of Americans he is still “Meathead,” Archie’s liberal son-in-law Mike Stivic on CBS’ landmark sitcom “All in the Family.”

For those unfamiliar with Reiner’s life beyond Meathead, consider his feature film work both in front of and behind the camera, all available on video.

THE ACTOR: A young, rather plump Reiner can be seen in bit roles in two of his father Carl’s movies: the 1966 autobiographical comedy Enter Laughing (RCA/Columbia) and the outrageous 1970 comedy Where’s Poppa? (Baker & Taylor Video).

Reiner also co-starred in the acclaimed 1974 TV-movie Thursday’s Game (Vidmark), with Gene Wilder and Bob Newhart. He appeared with Martin Short and Molly Ringwald in Shelley Duvall’s Tall Tales and Legends: Johnny Appleseed (RCA/Columbia). His most recent film appearance was last year in Mike Nichols’ comedy Postcards from the Edge (RCA/Columbia) in which he played an obnoxious movie producer who insists Meryl Streep’s character take a drug test.

THE DIRECTOR: Reiner also co-starred in his feature directorial debut, the riotous 1984 mock documentary This Is Spinal Tap (Nelson). Reiner plays a fourth-rate documentary filmmaker producing a “serious” documentary on an aging, down-and-out British heavy metal band called Spinal Tap as it tours America.

Reiner followed up “Spinal Tap” with the sweet, enjoyable 1985 comedy The Sure Thing (Nelson). An engaging John Cusack stars as a fun-loving college student who travels across country during spring break so he can meet a “sure thing” (Nicolette Sheridan). Daphne Zuniga is his fellow traveler and exact opposite who needs to get to Los Angeles to be with her equally uptight boyfriend.

After the two comedies, Reiner directed the acclaimed 1986 drama Stand by Me (RCA/Columbia), based on Stephen King’s short story “The Body.”

“Stand by Me” was also Reiner’s first box-office hit and garnered him a Directors’ Guild of America nomination for best director.

Set in the late 1950s, “Stand by Me” is a tender, sentimental and nostalgic tale about four boyhood friends growing up in a small town who decide to take an overnight adventure and find the body of a dead teen-ager in the wilderness. Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell are perfect as the four friends.

Critics and audiences were mixed about Reiner’s next film, 1987’s The Princess Bride (Nelson). But despite some dry stretches, this fractured fairy tale, adapted by William Goldman from his novel, has a lot going for it: romance, comedy, interesting characters and plenty of swashbuckling action.

Robin Wright is the Princess Bride; Cary Elwes is her one true love who must find and rescue her from the evil king (Chris Sarandon), who wants to marry her.

Two years later, Reiner hit pay dirt with the Nora Ephron comedy When Harry Met Sally ... (Nelson Entertainment) for which he received another DGA nomination.

Some wags called this romantic comedy “ ‘Manhattan’ Lite,” but one can’t deny its charms or abundance of sparkling, witty lines. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal shine as two friends living in New York who discover they really love each other.

Reiner made a 360-degree switch with his latest film, 1990’s Misery (Nelson Entertainment). Based on Stephen King’s bestseller, “Misery” is a gripping, black comedic voyage into psychological horror.

James Caan plays a romance novelist who decides to kill off his famous character of “Misery” and begin to write serious novels. After taking a terrible plunge off the road in a mountain region of Colorado, he’s rescued by a plain Jane, overweight nurse named Annie (Kathy Bates) who happens to be obsessed with the Misery novels.

Bad news/good news for “All in the Family” fans: the Norman Lear comedy is not yet available on video. But on Aug. 5 TBS will start rerunning the series Monday-Thursday at 1:35 a.m.