It’s always terrible to lose people, more so when they’ve had an impact on you, and further so when they were taken under horrendous circumstances.

Rob Reiner, a renowned actor/director/screenwriter, and Michele Singer Reiner, a photographer and producer, were tragically killed on December 14th, reportedly at the hands of their son Nick.

I don’t want to dwell on the circumstances of their death at this moment (you can Google it to find out more). Instead, I want to celebrate and pay tribute to Mr. Reiner and talk about three of my favourite films of his.

I don’t remember the first time I watched Stand by Me. I must have been in my teens because I had a crush on Wil Wheaton from his Star Trek days and was probably curious about his other work. I also don’t remember much about what I thought of it at the time, but what I do know is that it is a film I have returned to time and again, so it must have had a strong impact after that initial viewing. Now, every time I watch it, I’m blown away by the entire thing, from the performances and the script to the cinematography and the music, and we have Mr. Reiner to thank for bringing all those elements together and giving us one of the most enduring coming-of-age films. His keen eye that he had grown from his roots as an actor gave him a director’s sight that not many director’s can boast in adapting Stephen King’s short story The Body. His ability to visually capture the boys’ experiences and the depth of their transition was astounding. As tributes from those who knew him have poured in, they have nothing but the highest regard for him and his character, something which I think is reflected in the humanity of his films. Whether you can relate to the characters, in any Reiner film, matters not because he will evoke whatever empathy you possess, and Stand by Me does that in spades.

The Princess Bride. Easy enough to write off as just another kid’s fantasy film, and it may have been just that if Mr. Reiner had not taken the helm on this adaptation of William Goldman‘s book. While Robyn Wright and Cary Elwes put in great performances and had terrific chemistry, every shot with the pair of them oozed romance and love, keenly felt right through the screen. It’s probably the biggest reason I love this film; the romance feels utterly genuine and not at all forced. Mr. Reiner astutely understood the core of this film, which was love in both the romantic and familial sense (the scenes with the Grandson and the Grandfather were just as poignant). He also knew how to get the best comedic performances from his actors, resulting in a film that smoothly spans multiple genres and will continue to entertain the generations to come.

When Harry Met Sally was another triumph with unforgettable scenes and lines that are quotedly routinely. Again, Mr. Reiner knew what he wanted us to get from this film, because it seemed like it was something he wanted too at the time: love. It’s a continual theme in his work, at least the ones I’m most familiar with. It also doesn’t fly under the radar at all that it was during the filming of When Harry Met Sally when Mr. Reiner met his wife-to-be Michele Singer. What a fabulous way to have life imitate art, and what a deserving person for it to happen to (or so I’ve read). It was this meeting that reportedly saw him alter the ending (SPOILER ALERT) in which Harry and Sally get together.

I don’t pretend to know all of Mr. Reiner’s work; I certainly haven’t seen all of his films nor have I seen many of his performances, but with a filmmaker as authentic as he was, you can have no doubt that he put his heart and soul into every single one and instinctively made you feel that heart and soul through his films. It was just two weeks ago that I watched Sleepless in Seattle in which Mr. Reiner had only a small role but he owned his scenes with his presence. The tributes that have been paid by those who knew him, those who met him and those whom he affected in one way or another have been nothing short of warm and affectionate, an outpouring of more of that thing that Mr. Reiner will continue to make us feel via his films forever: love.

Rest well, Rob and Michele.