Review of Charles Swan III

Flash Summary:
A graphic designer's day-dream fueled reality starts to topple before his very own eyes when his girlfriend breaks up with him, followed by a near-death experience.

Review:
In viewing the trailer for this film a while back, it surprised me to not see Wes Anderson's name behind the credits, seeing as how two of his major picks for movies (Bill Murray & Jason Schwartzman) were starring in this alongside the ever-so-rambunctious Charlie Sheen. I thought the trailer for the film was extremely captivating and left me wondering what we would exactly get a glimpse of. Needless to say, I'm glad Charles Swan III took a trip to a psychiatrist, because I had a blast with this film.

"Can you guys believe I'm in a movie after all that crazy shit I did?!"

Charles Swan's (portrayed by Charlie Sheen) brain trip begins with his girlfriend Ivana, played by Katheryn Winnick, ruthlessly breaking up with him after she discovers a drawer full of pictures of his exes. He proceeds to go on a whimsical day-dream journey, sometimes accompanied by his comedian friend (Jason Schwartzman) and/or his graphic designing manager (Bill Murray). We see Charles' destruction as he starts to realize he may be too old to try and love again, and searches for anyone to tell him he should win Ivana back. Although a pretty grim life crisis, the film is a joy ride, and our characters are so colorful and dynamic that we rarely find ourselves bored with anyone on screen.

I did have a slight issue with the running time, as I felt that the film was cut too short and much more exposition for Swan's character was possibly left on the cutting room floor. The third act of the movie involves little to no dream sequences, while the prior two acts were soaked in a blender of reality and fantasy. This may have been Roman Coppola's attempt to show Swan's character coming to grips with reality, but I felt like it somewhat made the movie fall short of it's title. Although it is only a glimpse, and who is ever truly satisfied with a glimpse?

I made a reference to Wes Anderson earlier, saying how this looked like it could clearly be his work, but the comparisons stop at the actor choices. Although Coppola has written with Anderson in the past, this is a very fresh, new type of film, one I could get used to quickly. It was very personal, reflected a real life dilemma of our main character, and was a trippy way to show a person's thoughts on their everyday life. I quite enjoyed Coppola's film, and it has certainly prompted me to seek out more of his work. The movie's subject matter could have been dealt with in a variety of manners, but I'm quite glad this was the chosen form. If you have yet to check this movie out, or have never heard of it, I have posted a link to the trailer below.

Thanks so much for reading my review of A Glimpse Inside The Mind of Charles Swan III, be on the lookout for reviews of Dr. Strangelove and The Impossible coming soon!