Five Rob Reiner films that rocked, romanced and riveted

Rob Reiner's cinematic career spanned decades and defied categorization, embracing courtroom drama, fantasy, horror, comedy, and satire.

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Each success was distinguished by incisive writing and a deep humanity that wove his work into the fabric of popular culture.Few filmmakers have matched Reiner's breadth - or left behind so many lines that endure in memory, quoted everywhere from comedy stages to political podiums. In the wake of his shocking killing, that legacy has only come into sharper focus, as tributes pour in to a filmmaker whose work blended wit, empathy and moral clarity with rare consistency.

Los Angeles police charged the son of the Hollywood director with murder on Monday after the suspect’s parents were found stabbed in a brutal double killing that shocked movie fans around the world.

Here are five Reiner classics, endlessly rewatched and quoted, that now stand as both entertainment and epitaph:

This Is Spinal Tap (1984) -

Reiner's directorial debut didn't merely lampoon rock culture - it helped invent the modern mockumentary. The film chronicles a hapless British heavy-metal band on a US tour gone spectacularly awry.