A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III
2 out of 5 Stars
Director • Roman Coppola
Starring • Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray
Rated • R
Recommended to • Those looking for a less-than-adequate Wes Anderson film by Anderson’s frequent collaborator Roman Coppola.

Charles Swan III (Charlie Sheen) is an insufferable graphic designer spiraling through a mid-life crisis after his latest girlfriend leaves him.
Roman Coppola’s second feature film is a mixed bag. Essentially Coppola is offering a look into the mind of an artist and the strange way that inspiration mixes with reality to form a strange cocktail of fantasy and paranoia. It reminds me of Michael Gondry’s “The Science of Sleep,” only darker and far less enjoyable. This is mostly due to the portrayal of the central character as self-absorbed hack who may have once been a creative genius but has since disintegrated into a disagreeable old man. Not that the film’s lack of appeal should be blamed on Sheen. He is playing the character, which is essentially a version of his own persona, as well as can be expected, but the script makes him too unsympathetic to root for. You simply, like his ex-girlfriend, grow quickly tired of his presence. Thankfully the supporting cast, which includes Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette, Katheryn Winnick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aubrey Plaza, keeps the film from being a complete waste of 90 minutes. 

-Ryan Michael Painter