Rob Reiner’s legacy is a powerful one.
And for “Eternity” director David Freyne, the late filmmaker’s catalogue of creations will never be forgotten.
“He’s an icon to me,” the writer exclusively told The Post on Tuesday.
“I think even if you’re not a filmmaker, he’s probably made one of your favorite films or one of your favorite people’s favorite films. Obviously ‘When Harry Met Sally’ is the greatest romantic comedy of all time. ‘Spinal Tap.’ ‘Misery.’ Just the breath of his work was so extraordinary.”
He added: “I really love [that] there’s a real kindness to his work that I really respond to.”
“There’s a real belief in humanity that I think is at the heart of his work, and I think it was so clear that was at the heart of that man and his beautiful wife,” he told The Post. “It’s an unspeakable tragedy. But I think his legacy is going to live for forever, beyond film, because he’s just one of those greats.”
In honor of Reiner, Freyne revisited the beloved 1989 rom-com starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal.
“I watched ‘When Harry Met Sally’ last night,” he said. “Just because I felt like I had to. He’s going to be deeply, deeply missed.”
Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood, Calif., home on Sunday.
Their son Nick was taken into custody and is currently on suicide watch at Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles. He is being held without bail.
Meanwhile, Freyne is hot off his latest project — the rom-com movie “Eternity,” starring Callum Turner, Elizabeth Olsen and Miles Teller.
The project takes place in an afterlife when Joan (Olsen) has to make a choice between the man she spent her life with (Teller) and her first love (Turner), who died young.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph and John Early play afterlife coordinators who help their clients pick an eternity after landing at The Junction.
“The scariest part was just having to confront what love is to me,” Freyne explained. “I think for me and Pat [Cunnane], my co-writer, we spent so much of our time just discussing what is important to us in a relationship and reflecting on past relationships and kind of confronting our current relationships — in ultimately a very positive way.”
Which could be quite jarring at times.
“That was kind of possibly quite frightening. But it was lovely as well to kind of explore love in its many different forms. And I think that’s what the film does. With her relationship with Luke, her first husband and her second husband, Larry, it’s not about right or wrong. They both reflect very different things. And I think her at very different points in her life. And I think that’s what makes it special.”
Olsen, 36, who eloped with Robbie Arnett in 2020, even saw a part of her real life marriage within the characters.
“Lizzie always says the moment she fell in love with Larry was when he choked on a pretzel because she could so easily imagine her husband doing that,” recalled Freyne. “So it really brought a lot home to us about our own experiences and what’s truthful to us in those relationships. We definitely had to listen to our partners quite a lot!”
In the movie, those who crossed over got to pick their afterlife — which included everything from Celebrity World to Yacht World. There was even a look at the discontinued eternities like Wine World.
“I loved conjuring up them all,” he told The Post. “I remember in the writing, just going for lovely long dog walks, thinking of Medieval World, but with modern plumbing! I loved all of them, like a lot. I think I have a lot of pride in the ones that are those revisionist history. The 1940s Ireland without the famine or Weimar Germany, but without the Nazis. I think when you think about those periods, you aren’t thinking about the negatives. I think those are really fun to think of.”
Personally, the Ireland native isn’t opposed to getting his boogie on.
“I would like to go to Studio 54 World,” he mused. “I think that’d be great.”
Freyne also has one wish for audiences after watching “Eternity.”
“Firstly, I hope they had a good time and laughed and cried,” he said. “But I hope that they come out believing or maybe reflecting on their own relationships, which is a nice thing. Also maybe just reflecting on the idea that there’s more than one kind of idea of happiness.”
Audiences may not have seen the last of “Eternity” either.
“I wouldn’t mind revisiting The Junction again,” Freyne teased. “I love that world. Maybe in TV form and kind of revisiting the afterlife coordinators, whether that’s with John or Da’Vine. I think it’s such a rich world to explore, and we had so much fun there.”
