Review of A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (2013) by Archibald T — 07 Feb 2013

For his 2nd feature, Roman Coppola takes on the subject of failed relationships. This time he has Charlie Sheen along for the ride. It's not a challenging character for him to play nor original in that he's playing a guy much like himself. The story has a lack of plot and is merely based on Coppola's indulgences of wanting that ONE girl that got away to oh so desperately come back! It's been done to death in many, many films. Here it's done for a comical effect that sort of works, but it too sadly fails.

A series of misadventures, both surreal & real, blur the line of Charles Swan's mind once his beloved Ivana leaves him. She discovers a slew of Polaroids of other girls in one of his drawers. Fighting mad, she tosses her shoes left and right around his place before leaving for good. Charles becomes inconsolable and tries to discard the shoes before crashing into a swimming pool. Luckily his support system of a buddy named Kirby, his business manager Saul, and his sister Izzy try to help Charlie get over this girl. It won't be easy seeing that he's smitten to the point of self-destruction. Wanting what you can't have can be the ultimate paradise of love/hate. That is until you're able to set yourself free of course.

Aside from it's unoriginal set up, I really dug the Retro style of set pieces and quirky like surrealism. Just like in his first film CQ, Roman Coppola does another great nostalgic piece of 70s filmmaking for the modern audience. If anything see the film for that alone. It was more fun than the story which was only about a whiny asshole wanting his girlfriend back.