I challenge anyone who appreciates the life and work of Carl Reiner to not cry after watching this.
The comedy legend (and father of fellow Hollywood great, Rob Reiner) died on June 29 at the age of 98. But there’s at least one more chance to see him perform, thanks to a clip that was shot just a few days before Reiner left this world behind.
The clip is the cap-off scene in Quibi’s weird, socially distanced remake of The Princess Bride. And it’s just perfect.
In the Quibi remake, celebrities from all across the industry have recreated scenes from the movie in short stretches. The stitched-together product of their efforts amounts to a new spin on The Princess Bride with multiple actors (and famous faces) playing each character.
The final scene from the 1987 returns us again to the framing device that recurs throughout the movie: a grandfather (Peter Falk) reads a fantasy story to his sick-in-bed grandson (Fred Savage). In Reiner’s recreation, Carl takes on the Falk role while Rob lies in bed pretending to be a sick teen.
(In an extra fun twist, Rob also appeared in the remake’s opening scene as the grandfather, with Josh Gad playing the sick grandson.)
Jason Reitman, who directed the remake, shared the clip on Twitter for all to see.
Reitman also explained how he came to realize the importance of the remake scene in a chat with Vanity Fair. He asked the Reiner family for permission before including it, and lucky for us all they said yes.
“It dawned on me: It was his final performance on not only a perfect career, but a perfect life,” Reitman said about the scene. “It felt like one more chance to see Carl Reiner. It was actually a scene about the love of a grandfather and a grandson. It’s a scene about storytelling. You can’t help but imagine Carl reading stories to Rob when he was a kid, and that this is what it looked like and what it felt like.”