It's no stretch to say that Rob Reiner is a Hollywood institution. The son of legendary comedian Carl Reiner, he played the iconic TV character "Meathead" in "All in the Family" in the '70s and then went on to direct some of the most celebrated films of the 20th Century – "This Is Spinal Tap," "Stand By Me," "The Princess Bride," "When Harry Met Sally…," "Misery," and "A Few Good Men."

Recently, Reiner has been known more for his politics than his filmmaking, but with his latest film, "The Magic of Belle Isle" (in theaters Friday and available on VOD now), the 65-year-old proves he's still got it -- it's one of his best in years.

The film stars Morgan Freeman as Monte, a gruff, wheelchair-bound author who drinks too much and has given up on writing. But when he moves into a sleepy town for the summer and befriends his neighbor (Virginia Madsen) and her kids, Monte's life begins to turn around. A tearjerker with heart, it's the perfect summer movie to see with your kids (a rarity when it comes to indies).

Reiner chatted with Film.com about the film, potentially playing Leonardo DiCaprio's father in Martin Scorsese's upcoming "The Wolf of Wall Street" and his reaction to his friend and "When Harry Met Sally…" collaborator Nora Ephron's recent passing.

Hollywood doesn't make movies like "The Magic of Belle Isle" anymore.

That's for sure.

Is that frustrating?

Well, things change and you have to go with the changes. The studios are making the big franchise comic book-type movie and R-rated raunchy comedies, that's basically all they make. Then there are small pictures like this one that get independently financed, we did it ourselves at Castle Rock, it was like $5 million. And you can get these pictures made, you just have to know how to do it and you have to do it at a price with a certain budget.

What are your thoughts on modern distribution? For example, with "The Magic of Belle Isle" it's been available through streaming and VoD for weeks.

I think it's good. It's not for every film but for this kind of film, it's perfect. It's a small film and a character-driven piece and very intimate. It goes on Video On Demand and then it goes out in theaters for a little while and then that fuels the Video On Demand, so they kind of help each other. For me, I just want as many people to see the film as possible. So I think this is a good way of going.

Morgan Freeman makes the film.

I think it's one of his best performances ever.  I mean, I look back at his performances and I think of "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Shawshank Redemption" and this one, I think, is as good as those.

Did he go "method" and stay in the wheelchair a lot?

The thing about Morgan is he's incredibly coordinated. He was a dancer when he started out, but he only has use of one of his arms now because of that [car] accident.

Did you write that into the Monte character?

Yeah. That wasn't part of the story and we put it in. And it worked, it makes sense for the character.  He had a little trouble with the chair at first, but he's so coordinated that he quickly got comfortable.

Is "Belle Isle" an extension of what you, Freeman and Jack Nicholson explored in "The Bucket List": dealing with mortality?

Yeah, it is actually. When I did "Bucket List," I had just turned 60 at the time and I just started thinking about my own mortality and how precious life is. As you get older, you realize you're not going to be around forever. We developed "Belle Isle" and when it was finished I thought, wow, this is along the same lines [as "The Bucket List"]. A person who learns never to give up, you just have to embrace life. I mean, unless you're Shirley MacLaine, I think you're only getting one shot at this thing.

How involved do you get in the writing of your films? Do you just do notes or is it more involved?

I do quite a bit.  Whenever I decide this is a film I'm going to make, I usually take it over and do my work on it as a writer. I mean "Belle Isle" is Guy Thomas' story and it's his initial idea, but then I will add whatever I feel needs to be done to it in order to make it the way I like it.

Are the reports true that you're going to play DiCaprio's dad in Scorsese's "Wolf of Wall Street"?

What's what I hear. No, we're hoping that's going to work. They've offered me this part and I want to do it and it just depends on the schedule. I have another movie that I'm hopefully going to direct in the fall, so I hope it doesn't conflict because I'd like to do it. I thought well, I'm not going to question Martin Scorsese, he's such a great director, but you know either I'm a lot handsomer than I think I am or maybe Leonardo is not as handsome as he thinks.

And the project you're referring to is "You Belong To Me"?

Yeah. That's a thriller and I haven't done one since "Misery." I love thrillers. People don't think of me in terms of thrillers but I love them. I'd rather watch a thriller than any other kind of movie. I love Hitchcock and "Double Indemnity," all those kinds of movies, so this one came long and I thought it was really cool, so I've decided to do it.

Any cast involved?

We haven't signed anyone yet.

You've been very dedicated to activism and politics in recent years. Are these new projects a reinvigoration of the moviemaking side of you?

I try to balance them.

But that's got to be tough.

It has. For a long time, I was a chairman of a state commission of early childhood in California and I did that for seven years. That was difficult, because that was like a full time job. I had to be in Sacramento a lot and it took a lot of my time. Now what I'm doing is trying to balance any political activism I do and my film work and it's a little bit easier. My wife and I have been involved in the legal court challenge to Proposition 8 here in California, and once you've raised the money to hire the lawyers, those don't take as much time. We've also done a play based on it, too, with Dustin Lance Black, and we put that on in New York and LA.

Do you plan to still do a Prop 8 documentary?

There's one in the works as well as a narrative feature film that Dustin Lance Black is working on. We're waiting to see what happens, if the Supreme Court will take the case. Right now it's on appeal. We won at the district level and the circuit court of appeals and now it's going to be appealed to the Supreme Court. So that will have an affect on the ending of both films.

I'm sure it's been a tough week for you with the passing of Nora Ephron.

Horrible. It was the biggest shock, it was so upsetting.

Did you know at all that she was ailing?

No. And not only that, I mean, her children didn't know. Nobody knew. Apparently she's had this disease for six years, it was a rare form of Leukemia and nobody really knew it. I talked to her friends and Nick [Pileggi, her husband] the other day and he was just saying she didn't want people to pity her or be the center of focus every time she walked into a room. She wanted to just go on with her life. I just have so much admiration and respect for her because she really knew how to live life. She really enjoyed herself and wanted to enjoy herself up until the end, whenever that was. I have nothing but the greatest respect and love for her.

When was the last time you saw her?

A couple of months ago, there was a birthday party for one of the lawyers we hired for Prop 8. That was the last time I saw her and I had no idea what was going on.

You two had an incredible collaboration, what will you take from it?

She was great to work with and absolutely brilliant and maybe the most incisive observer of men and women who has ever lived. She was so talented.

On a completely different note, when people come up to you do they mention "Spinal Tap" or "When Harry Met Sally…" more often?

It's all of them. And a lot of "Princess Bride," "A Few Good Men," "Stand By Me."

Is there one that's nearest and dearest to your heart?

I would say "Stand By Me," because at the time, it was kind of a coming-of-age for me as a filmmaker and an adult. It probably means more to me than any of the films. But they're all your children, you love them all equally… even "North." [Laughs]