VSC and FilmBuff A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III GAT PR Press Summary National
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Charlie Sheen plays a graphic designer whose enviable life slides into despair when the girl of his dreams breaks up with him in “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III“.
Interviewed Director Roman Coppola – no archive available online
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Do not assume that because he plays “a very outgoing, charming guy who has girl troubles, who is larger than life, and who has certain personal crises going on” in A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III that Charlie Sheen is his character Charles Swan. Writer-‐director Roman Coppola (CQ) can see why viewers might think that but insists that the “aesthete” Swan is very different from the friend he met around the time their fathers were making Apocalypse Now together in the Philippines in the mid-‐ 1970s. (Those fathers, by the way, are writer-‐director Francis Ford Coppola and actor
Martin Sheen.) “He’s a regular guy,” Coppola says of Sheen. “He likes to watch sports, he likes hanging out with his family, and in many ways is very different from the character. So I think when you are casting a role, you want to have somebody who can bring something to it. But I do think when people see the movie they’ll kind of understand that it’s Charlie Sheen the actor performing and portraying this role. And to toot his horn, I think he does a beautiful job.” Swan is an LA graphic designer reeling from the breakup of his relationship with Ivana (Katheryn Winnick, Bones). Given to alcoholic binges and flights of fantasy, Swan seeks solace from his comedian friend Kirby Star (Jason Schwartzman) and business manager Saul (Bill Murray), who is enduring the breakdown of his own marriage. And that’s about it in terms of plot. Coppola visualizes Swan’s and Star’s thoughts about women in separate fantasy sequences (Swan sees himself as a cowboy shot through the heart by Ivana, who appears to him as a horse-‐riding Native American; Star performs a stand-‐up routine about the Secret Society of Ball Busters). Their anger sometimes verges on misogyny, although their self-‐pity makes them the objects of our derision more so than the women in their lives. Coppola, who also wrote the film, credits his script to “pretty absurd” post-‐breakup conversations with his best friend that were “very slender in understanding and very vacillating in love and hate and confusion.” He figured that it might be interesting to write a movie about a breakup from the perspective of a “helpless” and “immature” guy. “But I have to say, showing the movie recently, someone who is a woman came up to me and said, ‘Oh wow, I totally connected with that main character,’ and that really pleased me because you never want to be exclusive of people connecting with an experience. So hopefully it’s a universal story that if anyone in the audience out there has been in a breakup, they might just relate to this film.” While he may be best known for co-‐writing with frequent collaborators like Schwartzman (The Darjeeling Limited) and director Wes Anderson (Darjeeling, Moonrise Kingdom), A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III is all Coppola, for better or for worse. I ask him about the challenges and advantages of writing alone. “I think by doing something on your own it’s really truly very much your vision and
coming from your wellspring, whatever you want to call it. That’s always a pleasure, to push and to see what comes out. But I love working with Wes in particular, and Jason and I really enjoy collaboration, so I’m open to both things.” Coppola shot the film quickly on a modest budget, and called in a lot of favours to get it made. Besides using his father’s post-‐production facilities and getting an “incredible” tax credit from the California Film Commission, Coppola also credits longtime friends Murray and Schwartzman for “being super supportive” and “throwing down” for him. “Certainly it is a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by friends and family who want to support what you care about.” Glimpse is set in Los Angeles, and Coppola agrees when I suggest that the film could not really be set anywhere else. He points out the “beautiful sunshine and palm trees and beaches” featured in the film, juxtaposed with the “depressing” side of LA, including the fact that the city has “no real sense of neighbourhood” and is “kind of decrepit... “Just the imagery that I wanted to evoke, it’s just so uniquely southern California; LA. I just couldn’t imagine it set in any other place.” While he waits to see how audiences take to his self-‐penned film, Coppola also has next month’s Oscars to look forward to, where his screenplay for Moonrise Kingdom is up for Best Original Screenplay. I ask Coppola what an Oscar win will mean to him, given that his father Francis and sister Sofia are both Academy Award winners themselves. “Well, just to be nominated obviously is a huge thrill, and I’m a little bit cautious to get too ahead of myself. People have been asking ‘What if you win?’ and I want to invite it to happen, if it’s going to happen, but I don’t want to wish for something that doesn’t happen. So I’m just in a pleasant place, thinking positively, and without jinxing anything. And I would be presumptuous to go any further than that.” A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III opens in Toronto and Montreal February 15
http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/movie-‐reviews/reviews-‐a-‐good-‐day-‐to-‐die-‐hard-‐and-‐safe-‐haven-‐ 1.1156632 "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III" is much like its star Charlie Sheen-‐-‐a bit of a mess but still, somehow likable. Charles (Charlie) is a graphic designer in the laid back Los Angeles of 1970-‐something. He's a creative genius and a loose cannon who keeps saucy polaroids of his exes in a special drawer in his house. When his girlfriend Ivana (Katheryn Winnick) finds the photos she dumps him, sending him into a spiral. He dips in and out of reality, alienates his best friend, stand-‐up comic Kirby Star (Jason Schwartzman), pushing his personal and professional lives close to the edge of disaster. In other words it's a re-‐enactment of Sheen's famous "winning" meltdown minus the tiger blood. It cannot be said the Coppola's don't have a gift for shot composition. From father Francis to sister Sophia and brother Roman the family has a gift for making great looking films. Roman -‐ who produces and directs here -‐ presents a vision of 1970s Los Angeles -‐ complete with velvet suits, vintage cars and cigarette smoke -‐ that recreates the glamour days when Dino’s Lodge ruled the Sunset Strip. What he didn’t inherit is his dad's story sense. "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III" is a disjointed, strange film that seems more interested in its nonlinear narrative than actually developing real characters. While it's fun to see Sheen living a strange shadow life on screen or Schwartzman bringing along the off kilter feel of his work with Wes Anderson only Bill Murray is something he never is -‐-‐ forgettable. And yet, despite a lack of really compelling characters, the movie has its own hypnotic charm. The dreamy fantasy sequences that dot the narrative are often pointless -‐ not to mention a misogynistic look at the battle of the sexes -‐ but have a random, surreal energy, all leading up to Charlie's unexpectedly touching speech about not wanting to fall out of love with Ivana. It's not a big enough payoff to justify the 85-‐plus minute running time, but it is an interesting way to express man-‐child Charlie's inability to let go of the past. If "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III" is remembered years from now, it will only be as a portrait of the flame-‐out that characterized Sheen’s life for a few months post his "Two and A Half Men" departure. But the film doesn't take itself too seriously -‐ why else would the camera pull back to break the fourth wall at the end? -‐ so neither should we.
http://o.canada.com/2013/02/12/roman-‐coppolas-‐new-‐film-‐a-‐stylish-‐dark-‐comedy/
When film director Roman Coppola talks about the things he loves, he sounds like a thesaurus of enthusiasm. “Imaginative, outrageous, filled of life and pizzazz, full of surprise, sensations of delight, the feeling of mirth, the word ‘verve,’ zest, these are things I respond to,” he
says. “So all the movies I love and all the experiences I love relate to those words. That’s all one big word together for me. That’s what I love, that’s what I want to see, that’s what I want to do.” And thus: A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, a stylish dark comedy that stars Coppola’s childhood friend Charlie Sheen as a graphic designer in 1970s Los Angeles. It’s a world of funky design and airbrushed art — the hero drives a vintage Cadillac with a drawing of bacon on one door and eggs on the other — that provides a contrast to a story about a man who is abandoned by his lover and turns to his friends for advice and solace. It’s the second feature film from Coppola, the 47-‐year-‐old son of director Francis Ford Coppola (and sister of director Sofia Coppola). He made his debut on 2001 with CQ, a sci-‐fi comedy about a young filmmaker, and he has filled the intervening 11 years with a host of projects: music videos, commercials (he runs a company called The Director’s Bureau that makes ads), assisting on his sister’s movies Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette, co-‐writing The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom with Wes Anderson, producing the Jack Kerouac biopic On The Road, and more. “I’ve always wanted to follow my curiosity and be involved in interesting things,” Coppola says. “I never made any real plans to make movies. I never thought, ‘I’ll be a movie director like my dad.’ I never thought, ‘I can’t be a movie director like my dad.’ I just do the things that interest me.” Charles Swan came out of personal experience. Coppola had broken up with a girlfriend and he talked over his grief with a friend who had just been divorced. Their conversation — as he recalls it in a phone interview from Los Angeles — sounds much like a scene from the film: “‘Oh, I wish I could get her back.’ ‘You don’t want her back.’ ‘You’re right, I hate her.’ ‘No, you love her.’” Coppola says the movie was designed to capture that kaleidoscope of thought, but in a world that was highly stylized. The working title of A Glimpse Inside the World of Charles Swan III was Rhino, a tribute to a painting by figurative artist Mel Ramos of a naked woman riding a rhinoceros. “The image is so bold and so funny and cool and sexy and striking that I called the beginning of this project Rhino as a reminder that it can be as wild as that painting is.” The character of Charles Swan is loosely based on real-‐life graphic designers of the era, men who invented the pop culture imagery of Los Angeles in the 1970s, especially Charles White III, who inspired the hero’s name. Coppola gave him an anything-‐goes persona. He was to be flamboyant, outrageous and immature.
“If he has a car it would be a 1941 fastback Cadillac,” he says. “If he had a pet it would be a toucan.” Coppola says the job of a graphic designer — someone who embodies the contrast between art and commercial art — is also something he relates to. “I’m a person who makes commercials and I also want to make personal movies. That’s a curious and interesting discussion,” he says. There’s a cultural contrast as well. During the Great Depression, American movies were “the most glorious, imaginative, playful inventive material that you can ever think of. We’ve never topped it. Fred and Ginger and Pennies From Heaven and all that romance and glamour came out of the Depression time. And it occurred to me that if you’re in a state of personal depression, your daydreams and your fantasies and your other life is almost like you have to have that breath of contrast to survive.” The result is a film filled with pizzazz and verve and all the rest, with the added subtext that Charles Swan III and Charlie Sheen — at least the Sheen of recent tabloid excess — don’t seem that different. Both are out of control hard drinkers who seem to be racing toward disaster. Coppola says that it’s a coincidence and that he wrote the character before he thought of getting Sheen to play him. “His wit, his charm and also his humanness, in the scene where he says farewell to his girlfriend, it’s very soulful I think, and that’s also who he is.” Coppola and Sheen met when they were just boys and their fathers were working together: Martin Sheen was the star of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. They kept in touch through the years and always meant to work together some day. The film also co-‐stars Jason Schwartzman, who is Coppola’s cousin, and Bill Murray, who has worked on several of the Wes Anderson movies that Coppola co-‐wrote. Coppola says it’s “magnificently difficult” to make an independent film, but he has many other interests on the go. Aside from his various film and commercial work, he’s a partner in a company that markets an inflatable film enclosure. He says he’d love to build an amusement park or design a restaurant. “If someone said we’re looking for someone to make a world’s fair, design a pavilion, that type of thing would be thrilling. I love technology and inventions and I have a few apps that I’ve made and I have some more ideas that are in that realm.” He adds, “And of course movies as well.”
http://o.canada.com/2013/02/14/movie-‐review-‐a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐swan-‐ iii/
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III 2½ stars out of 5 Starring: Charlie Sheen, Katheryn Winnick, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman Directed by: Roman Coppola 86 minutes Parental guidance: Coarse language, nudity, sexual situations In the surreal romantic comedy A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Charlie Sheen plays the title character, a graphic designer in 1970s Los Angeles — itself graphically designed as a kind of retro neon homage to pleated pants, saturated colours and sideburns — who drives around in a vintage Cadillac. The car has bacon painted on one door and eggs painted on the other. It doesn’t mean much but it looks cool. Welcome to the mind of Charles Swan III. The film was made by Roman Coppola, son of Francis (and brother of Sofia). He has directed a bunch of music videos and a feature, CQ, in 2001, but it’s from his tag-‐ along history — second unit director for his sister’s Lost In Translation and Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic, co-‐writer for Moonrise Kingdom and The Darjeeling Limited — that he seems to have gathered the many bits and pieces, the bacon and eggs as it were, of this project. You see the ephemera of a man who grew up in the business and has a mind filled with its iconography. It’s a collage of camp nostalgia. The film is just as shallow in its glimpse into Sheen, who shares with Swan more than a first name. The title character is something of a train wreck, obsessed with sex (the opening images are an animated sequence showing drawings of naked women and lush lips emerging from his head), teetering on the edge of dysfunctional alcoholism and lost in a fantasy world. “Hard time dealing with reality?” a doctor asks Charles. “Always,” he replies.
His audience is a diverse lot that includes his business manager (Bill Murray, bringing his signature light irony) and his put-‐upon sister (Patricia Arquette), whose children Charles spoils with the affection of an unreconstructed rogue. You can tell that from his daydreams: Charles will occasionally fall into reveries in which, for instance, he is dressed as a cowboy (along with Kirby, whose Western shirt is decorated with Stars of David) and is attacked by sexy Indian women on horseback. In another fantasy, a group of women called the Secret Society of Ball Busters keep watch on their men (“flirtation in progress,” reads a warning light) and dispatch missiles to thwart them. The most charitable explanation is that, like the Mad Men TV show, this is a commentary on the misogyny of the era. In the end we don’t care much: A Glimpse Into the Mind of Charles Swan III hops from crisis to crisis with nothing at stake, particularly given Sheen’s ring-‐a-‐ding-‐ding good-‐times persona. Charles is supposed to be a man damaged by love, but all you really notice is the set design: it’s a dark journey told in rich colours, festooned with the throwback airbrushed art that was such a hip reference 40 years ago. Coppola isn’t up to much except trying to be entertaining. He has to settle for being diverting.
Synopsis: Graphic designer Charles Swan III goes through a midlife crisis spurred on by his younger, attractive girlfriend breaking up with him (and rightly so), and lucky us, we get to go through the dull experience right there with him. Who’s in It? Charlie Sheen plays the titular successful graphic designer, and while it’s more of a stretch than his TV roles, it’s not by much. Bill Murray as an unhappy old man, Jason Schwartzman as a proudly Jewish comedian, and Aubrey Plaza in a sailor outfit (all of whom just do what they want) keeps this movie from being completely unwatchable. Review: Terribly self-‐indulgent, and proceeding without a drop of irony, Charles Swan supposedly delves into the mind of a conflicted man, but is utterly and completely boring, offering mere minutes of distraction from an endless banality of meaningless ennui. Not surprisingly, the mind of Charles Swan is
filled with sex, drinking, and nothing the least bit deep or significant. Swan is the less interesting and wise version of Charlie Sheen (who would have thought possible?) even if he doesn’t use some of his signatures catch phrases, which in fact would have been welcomed since there isn’t anything else funny going on. Swan has some of the most mundane fantasies ever captured on film; one would think that a dive into the mind might offer something imaginative. No. From rescuing his ex-‐girlfriend from an inept abductor to happening upon a group of sexy bathing Indians, Swan is simple and would be unlikeable but for the aura of indifference surrounding him and the film. Sometimes he rides a horse, sometimes he sings and dances, and trust when I say those things sound far more fascinating than they really are. Director Roman Coppola, in his first feature endeavor, attempts to recreate the quirk that Wes Anderson has honed and triumphed. Coppola has worked on many Anderson films, which is likely how he got the very funny Murray and Schwartzman to add some credibility to this farce, but lacks an ability to pace a story, create a conflict, and evoke any bit of emotion. The two comic actors along with a decent selection of songs are the only redeemable qualities of this eye-‐rolling and head-‐scratchingly unimaginative bore of a film. Should You See It? Under no circumstances, ever. Memorable Quote: The word ‘memorable’ is used generously here, but here we have Swan trying to explain himself to his exiting girlfriend why he has so many pictures of naked exes; and this is meant to be serious. “But that’s the drawer where I keep all my photos.”
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The best thing about A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, the new film starring Charlie Sheen, has nothing to do with the polarizing star, or the fact that he's pretty much just playing a groovy '70s version of himself. Nor does it have anything to do with co-‐stars Bill Murray or Patricia Arquette, who are reliably the highlights of whatever they're in. No, the only thing that makes this snoozefest remotely watchable is Jason Schwartzman's wardrobe. The affable actor sports an amazing afro, a sleazy beard and hideous leisure suits. Best of all, though, we get to see him decked out as Carmen Miranda and a hippy cowboy in the psychedelic dream sequences. But sadly, even Schwartzman's get-‐ups aren't enough to sling this flick (directed by Hollywood royalty Roman Coppola) out of the "amateur" category. It's rambling at its best, and self-‐indulgent at its worst. The Wrap's Alonso Duralde summed it up perfectly when he wrote: "This isn't a despicable film or a lazy one; it's just a doodle, a glorified home movie by a filmmaker who no doubt has one hell of a Rolodex and a few favours to call in." Coppola's connections undoubtedly secured him his A-‐list cast that, aside from Murray and Arquette, also includes Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) and Katheryn Winnick (Vikings). And, of course, there's Schwartzman, who just happens to be Coppola's cousin. The flick follows an aging womanizer (Sheen -‐-‐ who else?) who goes through some sort of existential crisis when his much-‐younger girlfriend (Winnick) grows tired of him. He gets into a car accident, spends some time in the
hospital, hangs out with his sister (Arquette) and his pals (Murray and Schwartzman) and barks orders at his sassy employee (Plaza). He has bizarre dream sequences and haplessly tries to win his woman back. And he drives an amazing car with bacon and eggs painted on the sides (the other one of the movie's saving graces). Essentially, this is an overly stylized movie about nothing. Since nothing happens, it drags. The actors all do their best with what they've got, and Sheen is as charming as ever. But it just doesn't work. But who wants to focus on the negative? This seems like the perfect opportunity to celebrate Jason Schwartzman's chameleon qualities. He rarely sports the same look in any two movies, and he's definitely not afraid of making a sight gag of himself. With that in mind, here's a list of my own top five favourite Schwartzman looks. 1. Rushmore. The red beret. The tortoise-‐shell glasses. The combed-‐forward hair. Max Fischer certainly has a look that's all his own, in spite of the fact that he has to rock a private school uniform like all the other kids. No wonder Margaret Yang had a thing for him. 2. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Few men can pull off white blazers, looong sideburns and perfectly poufed hair. But Schwartzman makes it look natural. He's definitely the most stylin' ex of them all. 3. The Darjeeling Ltd. How awesome is his moustache in this movie? That moustache, along with the blazers without ties and the devil-‐may-‐care hair falling just below his eyebrows all scream, 'I'm an artiste who has lived in Paris!' 4. Shopgirl. That long slacker hair paired with the 5 o'clock shadow is positively irresistible. Steve Martin never stood a chance. 5. Freaks and Geeks. Schwartzman has sported plenty of goofy looks, and this one is no exception. His loud button-‐up shirt that's unbuttoned just a little too much would be sleazy if he didn't have such a baby face. That brown leather jacket is pretty bitchin', though.
Toronto
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TORONTO – When director Roman Coppola first envisioned Charlie Sheen for the lead role in his new film “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III,” the actor was still one of the most powerful men in TV starring on the top-‐rated comedy “Two and a Half Men.” By the time Coppola finally got his longtime friend to commit to the project, Sheen had devolved into a drug-‐addled punchline and no film studio wanted anything to do with him. But Coppola stuck by Sheen — whom he first met while their fathers worked together on “Apocalypse Now” in the late 1970s — convinced he was perfect for the part of Charles Swan, a rich, aging ladies man whose life starts unravelling after a bad breakup. The people who had to sign the cheques to make “Charles Swan,” on the other hand, weren’t so sure about Sheen. “A lot of people around me, certainly investors and stuff, were like, ‘Oh my god, we’re not going to go near this in terms of financing,’ a movie with someone they perceived to be, you know…” says Coppola before trailing off. “Charlie, as big of a star as he is in TV, was not particularly bankable.” Casting Sheen wasn’t the only obstacle to raising money for the film. Coppola — who’s nominated for the best original screenplay Oscar for “Moonrise Kingdom” with Wes Anderson — imagined a trippy, unconventional narrative for “Charles Swan,” which didn’t exactly spark a bidding war among hit-‐seeking studios. The story of Sheen’s character is told through a non-‐chronological melange of dreams, fantasies and memories — along with scenes from his present-‐day turmoil. Coppola says the story and its themes of love and love lost are based on amped-‐up versions of own experiences. “I cooked it up in 2003/04 and around that time I had a breakup with a girlfriend and my friend was going through a divorce. So we would hang out and talk and say, ‘I love her! I hate her! Do you want her back? No way! Yes, I want her back!’ There’s this kind of chaotic swirl of confusion — you want to talk about it, but you don’t want to talk about it, you can’t stop thinking about it — it’s just kind of a crazy, dazed state of mind that you get in,” he says. “It occurred to me: ‘Wow, this is an interesting starting point for a film where a character is processing what he just went through in this kind of kaleidoscopic way.”
His scattered storytelling vision didn’t make it easy to sell the movie, even though he recruited an impressive cast of supporting actors, including Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette, Aubrey Plaza and Canadian Katheryn Winnick. “It’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea … this film was basically turned down by everybody,” admits Coppola. “Financiers want to have a precedent for what they’re investing in and they want to be able to point to another product … so there’s very little interest in financing something that isn’t a proven form or genre. “Not to rag on anything, but there’s a bit of a same-‐ness to a lot of movies. Movies that have an individuality that perhaps try something or are a bit more inventive, those are (movies) I really value.” Coppola says his experience working with Anderson in some ways shaped “Charles Swan” and encouraged him to embrace his un-‐Hollywood ideas. “There’s such a distinctive path that he takes. It’s inspiring for me in my work to really try to ask myself what do I want to do, because Wes is very clear-‐headed about what appeals to him and he’s known for that defined sense of his personality,” he says. “So I think in the process of writing my piece, after having worked with Wes, you sort of say, ‘Jeez, I could have this, I could have that but what do I really want to have, what is that choice that really is a reflection of who I am?’ “And that’s a little something that came out of working with Wes, it’s basically being true to yourself.” Part of that commitment to his ideas was sticking with Sheen. He’s glad he did. “He came through in the biggest way, he took Spanish lessons, dance lessons and just jumped in in a super dedicated way and couldn’t have been more professional and more available,” Coppola says. “And in my opinion, really brought a great performance.” “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III” opens Friday in Toronto and Montreal and on Feb. 18 in Vancouver.
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A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III, stars Charlie Sheen (Swan), Jason Schwartzman (Kirby), Bill Murray (Saul), Katheryn Winnick (Ivana), and Patricia Arquette (Saul’s sister Izzy). I http://myetvmedia.com/film-review/a-glimpse-inside-the-mind-of-charles-swan-iiireview/ t is
a comedy with a love story, from writer, producer and director Roman Coppola. Coppola is presently co-nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay Moonrise Kingdom which he co-wrote withWes Anderson. The Coppola name and legacy is easily recognized in the world of film, this is Roman Coppola’s second feature film. The first was The Darjeeling Limited also co-written with his friendWes Anderson. The film is set in a stylized Los Angeles, where a successful and famed graphic designer Swan discovers that success is fleeting and love is not to be taken for granted.
If you are a Charlie Sheen fan this is the movie for you. Sheen does what he does best, inhabiting a character (Swan), who is primarily engaged with himself, his drinking, smoking and discussions of his sexual escapades. It is definitely a quirky film with a bit of a glorified ‘boys club’ feel to it.
Roman Coppola’s other projects were much more compelling, this script was less vigorous than his past work. It is a playful and lighthearted romp. Swan (Sheen) has it easy, his life blessed with fame, money and his own brand of charm. However, life is unpredictable and Swan is about to discover that his happiness is quite fragile. His beautiful ladylove, Ivana (Canadian actor Katheryn Winnick), decides to suddenly end their relationship leaving Swan suddenly out of sorts with time for some greatly needed introspection. Swan must struggle to regain the composure and enjoyment of his previous life, which he very much took for granted, while finding himself spiraling into an abyss of self-doubt.
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Actor Jason Schwartzman and filmmaker Roman Coppola are clearly good pals. Not only have they worked on several films together (including Moonrise Kingdom — for which Coppola has earned an Oscar nomination for best writing) but the duo are practically inseparable as they pitch their latest comedy. “I just think we’re collaborative by nature and I think it’s a good fit,” explained Schwartzman recently during an interview. “And Roman, his attitude is if you can dream of it, we can do it — we’ll find a way.” Coppola has truly tested that mantra in A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. Not only is the film’s title considerable but the “wild movie” involves a stylized world in which a graphic designer’s life (played by Charlie Sheen) unravels at the sudden departure of his true love in spite of his best friend’s (Schwartzman) support. “It’s told from a guy’s point of view but I was pleased when I showed the film and a good, close friend said (she) really related to that character,” admitted Coppola, who is certainly unafraid to enact the sex-‐obsessed title character’s fantasies in the quirky comedy. “Hopefully it’s just about the human condition, so anyone can enjoy it.” The film (which opens Friday) has also been drawing obvious parallels between Charles Swan and its notorious star Charlie Sheen — a circumstance that Coppola stops short of admitting, if only to praise the actor. “He has a wit, charisma and charm that’s just something certain people have and most people don’t,” said Coppola. “I knew that he had those chops and abilities as a really fine actor so I was excited and felt confident that he would nail it and was really excited to present him back on the big-‐screen again because I think he deserves to be there.”
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Directed by Roman Coppola Written by Roman Coppola Starring Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Katheryn Winnick Classification 14A Genre comedy Country USA Language English
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III ain’t a pretty sight. It’s awfully cluttered and rather pointless within that narcissistic cranium, not to mention within the frames of this ostensibly playful and surreal flick. The setting is a Los Angeles plucked out of time, where a pastiche of self-‐conscious styles heads off in search of some substance, and comes up woefully short. Those of a litigious bent might be tempted to sue the title for false advertising – a glimpse would have done nicely; a whole film is cruel and excessive. In fact, there’s a clubby incestuousness to this endeavour that spills onto the screen. The director is Roman Coppola and his star is Charlie Sheen. Yes, they’ve been tight since childhood, back when their daddies made a movie together – you know, that little thing called Apocalypse Now. Roman’s cousin, Jason Schwartzman, is also on hand here, as is Bill Murray. All
three have worked on various Wes Anderson films, whose scripts Coppola has occasionally contributed to (most recently MoonriseKingdom), and whose sense of whimsy he seems keen to borrow. An outright theft might have been better. The titular Swan (Sheen) is a graphic artist given to cars that are vintage and to a personal look that’s rooted somewhere in the seventies – he perpetually hides himself behind tinted aviator glasses. With good reason of late, since his girlfriend, Ivana, has just dumped him hard. Her departure ignites everything that follows and provides the reason for our journey into Swan’s troubled mental state. Problem is, beyond the troubles, not much is happening there. The guy is capable of self-‐interest, and certainly self-‐pity, but not of self-‐reflection or self-‐analysis. If the mind is a home, this one comes unfurnished. That may be why Coppola, stylistic palette at the ready, rushes in to paint this blank canvas in all manner of odd hues. Initially, Swan’s unfortunate affair of the heart gives him a literal pain in the heart, and he finds himself in the hospital, where visits are paid by Izzy, his novelist sister (Patricia Arquette in abundant pre-‐Raphaelite curls), by Kirby, his best buddy (Schwartzman in an outrageous “Jew-‐fro”), and by Saul, his morose business manager (Murray in a long comb-‐over). Yep, lotta hair. So it’s definitely kind of wiggy, especially when Coppola starts to alternate between elaborate fantasy sequences and some semblance of realism – or, at least, L.A. realism. Among the former: Swan imagines his funeral, followed by his resurrection, followed by an Astaire soft-‐shoe as he joyfully dances on his own grave. Then he, Kirby and Saul saddle up on horseback to ride into the badlands, when a tribe of Indian maidens in buckskin bikinis pierce them with their Cupid’s arrows. The list goes on, but I won’t. You’re welcome. Among the latter: Swan gets discharged from the hospital and returns home, where the sum total of his accumulated wisdom is this lumpy interrogative: “Can you love someone and hate them too?” It would appear so and, to that end, he tracks down his ex-‐girlfriend for a confrontation that, in keeping with the general spirit, proves as thin as it is anti-‐climactic. However, en route, it must be said that Charlie is well cast as Charles, if only because his infamously heavy personal baggage adds weight to an otherwise free-‐floating role. In short, potentially at least, Sheen is much more interestingly weird than Swan. And so we keep waiting for a glimpse inside that mind; for once, we hope an actor will step way out of character and play his own naked self. Sorry, no. This time, sadly, Charlie Sheen makes another bad decision – he sticks to the script.
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http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2013/02/14/a_glimpse_inside_the_ mind_of_charles_swan_iii_review_a_mind_trip_to_avoid.html
Starring Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette and Katheryn Winnick. Written and directed by Roman Coppola. 86 minutes. Opens Feb. 15 at Cineplex Yonge-‐Dundas. 14A Roman Coppola has an artist’s eye but an anarchist’s soul. The abundant care he takes in giving his pictures a distinct look and sense of whimsy is almost undone by narrative sabotage that verges on masochism. You could see it in CQ, his 2003 directorial debut, and now a decade later in his sophomore work, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. It’s a shallow attempt at depth. Set in the 1970s, the film pops with art — a hot dog couch, a bacon-‐and-‐egg Cadillac — that is more appropriate to the 1960s, a decade that fascinates Coppola. But at least it’s a consistent vision, something lacking elsewhere.
Perhaps the best thing that can be said about the film is that it adequately depicts the narcissism of its star, Charlie Sheen, whose well-‐publicized “meltdown” of 2011 threatened to destroy his career.
Sherlock Holmes isn’t required to deduce that Sheen’s womanizing title character, with a name drawn from Proust that also nods to L.A. poster artist Charles White III (Star Wars, Nashville), bears more than a little resemblance to Sheen himself. After a comic medical exam literalizes the title, we see Swan, dressed like a young Hugh Hefner (or maybe Elvis) in silk dressing gown and shades, as he gets the boot from outraged Ivana (Katheryn Winnick), his live-‐in lover. Ivana objects to finding nude Polaroids of herself tossed into the same drawer where Swan keeps porno shots of other women he’s bedded. Fancy that! Her ire catches Swan by surprise, and the errant playboy proceeds to demonstrate just how out of touch with reality he is. He recklessly slides his Caddy down a ravine into a stranger’s swimming pool. Coppola’s magic-‐realist vignettes — such as a western shootout where the “Indians” are gorgeous women — add to the air of surreality that infuses the entire production, sometimes pleasantly, often not. While Sheen’s Swan staggers about, trying to woo back Ivana (turns out he actually cares about her), other characters orbit him like spy satellites. They include Jason Schwartzman’s Kirby, a Kinky Friedman-‐type cowboy musician and enabler; Bill Murray’s Saul, the worried accountant for Swan’s failing design business; and Patricia Arquette’s Izzy, Swan’s outspoken sister. At one point, Stephen Dorff enters the frame, looking as if he wandered in from Somewhere, the recent film by Coppola’s sister Sofia that featured Dorff as a louche character similar to Swan. There’s a whole lot going on, all set to a twee pop soundtrack by Liam Hayes, but there’s little sense of purpose and even less impact. Coppola does have talent. His colourful and witty mise-‐en-‐scène is on a par with Wes Anderson, his friend and frequent collaborator. And as co-‐writer of two of Anderson’s recent movies — including the Moonrise KingdomOscar-‐nominated Moonrise Kingdom — Coppola would seem to know how to write a coherent script when occasion demands. But Coppola lacks Anderson’s discipline, and if he keeps making misfires like A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, he’ll be forever without his friend’s audience appeal, too.
http://www.thegridto.com/culture/film/a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐swan-‐ iii/ GRID RATING: 7/10 Starring Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray. Written and directed by Roman Coppola. STC. 86 min. Opens Feb. 15. It takes some doing to out-‐crazy Charlie Sheen, but the wildest moments of A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III make even the warlock king of “#winning!” seem restrained. Even more surprising is how much affection this wilfully eccentric period comedy by Roman Coppola generates for a star whose penchant for public buffoonery and professional flameouts ought to make him entirely exasperating. It’s easy to forget that Sheen was a capable actor before his years as a sitcom Lothario caused his talents to coarsen and calcify. And despite having to wear outfits that could have been acquired at Bob Guccione’s estate sale, he evinces an engaging hangdog charm as Charles Swan, a graphic designer who goes into a tailspin of self-‐ analysis and self-‐pity after his breakup with girlfriend Ivana (Katheryn Winnick). Set in a lavishly stylized version of mid-‐’70s L.A., Coppola’s film expresses little regard for naturalism. When our narcissistic hero isn’t muddling his way through his professional and personal crises, his inner life is revealed via fantasy sequences that evoke Federico Fellini, or at least Woody Allen and Paul Mazursky at their most Fellini-‐esque. Among the most outlandish is an Oscar-‐ceremony parody in which Swan humbly accepts the “Best Bullshit” award from the “Academy of Sexy Women.” Another fantasy segment is a goofy western spoof whose racist and sexist excesses are partially redeemed by the presence of Bill Murray in a cowboy hat and Jason Schwartzman in a Dan Fogelberg beard. The appearance of those actors among Swan’s retinue is one of many echoes of Coppola’s collaborations with Wes Anderson. Though too erratic and indulgent to match Moonrise Kingdom or even Coppola’s underrated 2001 debut, CQ, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III succeeds as a breezy, big-‐hearted, and often imaginative lark. And even if this big-‐screen foray is hardly the public mea culpa his many haters might demand, Sheen still proves he can be something other than a purveyor (and subject) of punchlines.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/02/15/taking-‐the-‐sheen-‐off-‐charlie-‐sheen/ If you’re looking for a microcosm of the kind of absurdly charmed life that Charlie Sheen has led, his starring role in Roman Coppola’s A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III is a fine place to start. And not solely, or really even at all, because the eponymous character shares the appetites and problems of its star. No, the background story will do just fine. Sheen met Coppola when the pair’s fathers were filming Apocalypse Now, the kind of ambitious, generational comment that is light years away from their current collaboration. That friendship has endured to the point where Coppola’s only stated anxieties about working with Sheen — who had possibly the most public meltdown of a very public-‐meltdown-‐y era — was the fact that some investors got cold feet. Their bond even encouraged Coppola to turn those faults into a ridiculously apologetic character study, as though acting like an ass is the birthright of the rich and famous. Those are less pre-‐production details than a scene from a modern update of The Great Gatsby. Now, it’s not terribly likely that Charles Swan III is going to do much for the reputation of Charlie Sheen, if only because it’s not terribly likely many are going to see it, much less be swayed by it: It’s a calculatedly esoteric but curiously charmless movie, as though Coppola was so concerned with doing something that had never
been tried before, he never stopped to consider why exactly that was. (And it’s not helped by the rampaging egos of more or less all involved.)
But if it’s a comeback Sheen was after, the question is not so much, “Why this?” as, “Why, at all?” The idea that Sheen has suffered, in the way that any sensate person might define suffering, from his tiger-‐blooded freak-‐out is ridiculous. Sheen hasn’t been within earshot of a meaningful consequence to his actions since before his latest ex-‐porn-‐star girlfriends were born. For now let’s just ignore the fact that the ink on his 100-‐episode contract to star in FX’s Anger Management was likely dry before the booze stains on the carpet of the Plaza Hotel were. The whole thing that got him into his supposed current predicament was among the most successful meltdowns in history. Whereas the fall from grace of a Britney Spears or a Lindsay Lohan gives us some pause to consider the sacrificial virgin flavour of our celebrity obsessions, Sheen’s meltdown quickly took on an air of boozy bonhomie. As though he were a grabby boss at a mid-‐’80s corporate Christmas party, shock gave way to awe, with even the mockery adopting a kind of congenial tone, a reverence to his #winning id. Unless I’m forgetting the part where Spears performed her bald-‐headed wailing act on a sold-‐ out North American tour, this was something of a melt-‐up. Sure, there were parts that should have struck Sheen down: the incredibly pathetic sight of his own father wondering what was wrong; the moment where authorities came and took his children away. He responded to the latter, as you’ll recall, by tossing his new catchphrase onto the back of a text to People. I know it’s easy to distance yourself from celebrities, but please, try to imagine a human being responding to that kind of news in that kind of way. Even deadbeat dads generally have the good sense not to brag about it. But why should he have responded any other way? It wasn’t as if contrition or soul-‐ searching even managed to strike the people around Sheen, at least not until he couldn’t show up to work anymore. It wasn’t the substance abuse that got him fired from his plush gig on Two and a Half Men (they pretty much openly joked about it on the show); his earlier charge for spousal abuse, which he plea bargained — and went to some, ahem, anger management classes for — didn’t either. (Although it’s not like
he was a young black man who was dating a pop star at the time, so we can probably just forget that one.) No, Sheen was ultimately fired because he publicly bad-‐mouthed his boss. Granted, maybe if he had bit his tongue, the following months of erratic behaviour would have likely hurt the moneymaking potential of Two and a Half Men enough that it would have happened anyway. If we ignore the hypothetical, though, there’s a nice lesson for the kids out there: Do drugs if you must, but at least make sure you show the appropriate deference to your superiors. What possible rehabilitation is there to be had for Sheen in Charles Swan III, exactly? Even if all this carries through to its inevitable conclusion, it would be hard to argue that he didn’t go out doing what he loved. Thanks to his famous enablers and a disproportionately rewarded talent, he’s had the rare chance to live a life unencumbered of basically any responsibility besides showing up: This is what he’s done with it. It’s hard to imagine someone whose teary eyed confession would be more insincere.
Of course, he’s not really asking for redemption. What he wants is for us to go back to the pleasant detente of his pre-‐meltdown, where we ignore the more unsavoury parts of his Sheeness and drive (bigger) truckloads of money up to his door. He wants us, basically, to let him do what he has always done, with the same consequences. There might be enough people out there willing to do that. There are certainly enough people close to him who are. But even if it happens, it wouldn’t be the end of some well-‐ worn rehab arc: It’d be the last chartable part of Sheen’s exponential ego trip. In the middle of his meltdown, he told one TV interviewer, “I’m tired of pretending I’m not special. I’m tired of pretending I’m not a total bitchin’ rock star from Mars.” He screwed up that last part: there’s still gravity on Mars. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III opens Feb. 15 in Toronto and Montreal.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/02/14/a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐swan-‐iii-‐ reviewed-‐not-‐quite-‐a-‐winning-‐formula-‐for-‐charlie-‐sheen/
1.5 stars It can be a comfort to watch an actor in his or her comfort zone. Tommy Lee Jones always plays some kind of ornery crank; Samuel L. Jackson is badass; and Helen Hunt radiates maternal charm, even when playing a sex surrogate. Sometimes, however, the comfort zone is an uncomfortable place to be. Take Charlie Sheen’s title role in A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. (A title that will literally take your breath away.) Charles Swan III is a wealthy jerk and an inveterate womanizer whose life in spiralling out of control. He’s also an uncle; so is Sheen. The plot, from writer/director Roman Coppola, plays out like a IIIrd-‐rate Wes Anderson movie. (Coppola has worked on the real thing several times as second-‐unit director, writer and producer.) Sheen — sorry, Swan — gets dumped by his girlfriend Ivana (Katheryn Winnick) and slides into despondency. Actually, he starts by sliding down the Hollywood Hills while trying to start his vintage Cadillac. He lands in a swimming pool. In Hollywood, this is slightly more likely than hitting the ocean. Taken to hospital, Sheen — look, I’m just going to call him Charlie, since this also marks the eighth time he’s played a character by that name. Sheen’s next roles include Charlie Sheen in Scary Movie 5, and the U.S. President — I’m guessing commander-‐in-‐chief Charlie St. Charles — in the action-‐ comedy Machete Kills. Anyway, Charlie is visited in hospital by his sister (Patricia Arquette), his best friend (Jason Schwartzman) and his business manager (Bill Murray). The casting suggests that Coppola was calling in favours, but it’s a pity he couldn’t find any decent screenwriters to help him out. The story, such as it is, involves a series of tepid encounters between Charlie and friends/family, most of which lead into a dream sequence. In one, he’s enacting his own funeral, surrounded by beautiful women. In another, he’s dancing with a bunch of gorgeous women. A third finds him receiving a “best BS” award from the Academy of Sexy Women. Later, beautiful female natives (i.e., Indians, Hollywood 1950s style) and lovely lady spies try to kill him. You get the picture. It ain’t pretty, even when it is pretty. When the movie strays from its gorgeous-‐dames theme it gets even weirder. Charlie has a pet toucan on which he dotes (until it dies). He speaks Spanish to his maid, and Portuguese while singing Waters of March (badly). Of course, he goes looking for drugs in one scene, but due to bad connections has to settle for Russian caviar and vodka. Since the film is set in the 1970s, this is quite a coup. There’s a meditation of sorts on fame and mortality lurking within these frantic set pieces, but the style never settles down long enough to allow for any depth. (Hey, it is called “A Glimpse …”) The apex of Charlie’s quest for knowledge boils down to: “Can you love someone and hate them, too?” The answer to which is obviously yes. Some of Hollywood’s most famous players fall nicely into that category. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III opens Feb. 15 in Toronto and Montreal, and Feb. 18 at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver. •
http://www.nowtoronto.com/movies/story.cfm?content=191227 A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III casts
Charlie Sheen as a self-‐absorbed Los Angeles Lothario whose artistic and financial success can’t quite paper over the gaping emptiness in his soul. It goes without saying that the actor is up to the challenge, except maybe for the part about artistic success. But Charles Swan III is not Charlie Sheen. Swan is a graphic designer in go-‐go 70s Hollywood whose life becomes a raging sea when his girlfriend Ivana (Katheryn Winnick, currently on screen in Stand Up Guys) leaves him. A car accident lands our hero in the hospital, where he awaits the results of some tests and plunges into various self-‐indulgent fantasies, as does the movie. This is the second feature by CQ writer-‐director Roman Coppola – son of Francis, brother of Sofia and cousin of Jason Schwartzman, who turns up in Lenny Bruce drag as Swan’s best friend, Kirby Star – and it’s a mess. I liked CQ a lot, but this one barely works. Sheen’s well cast as a lost boy pretending to be a man, and Winnick is terrific as a character who really only exists to call Swan on his bullshit. But most of Charles Swan III is given over to undercooked fantasies of Sheen/Swan dancing on his own grave or being hunted by women with murder in their hearts. It’s not a statement, it’s a shrug.
http://torontoist.com/2013/02/a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐swan-‐iii/
A Glimpse Inside The Mind of Charles Swan III does as advertised, frequently devolving into flights of lascivious fancy inspired by the overactive imagination of an aging L.A. Lothario (Charlie Sheen). It also offers a glimpse of what a Wes Anderson film might look like without the director’s customary wit or heart, and it’s not a pretty picture. Roman Coppola, who co-‐wrote Moonrise Kingdom and The Darjeeling Limited, has plundered Anderson’s meticulous, retro-‐inspired production design and penchant for privileged, self-‐absorbed protagonists, as well as his Rolodex of repeat collaborators (Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray feature in supporting roles). But he crucially neglects the humour and emotional insight that mark Anderson’s best work. Instead, Coppola gives us Sheen performing yet another riff on his train-‐wreck public persona, this time playing a superstar graphic designer in 1970s Hollywood. After his trophy girlfriend (Katheryn Winnick) calls it quits, Swan suffers a minor meltdown in an obvious nod to Sheen’s own “Tiger Blood” tailspin. What’s far from obvious, however, is why we’re meant to care. Like Charles Swan itself, Winnick’s character is fetching to look at, but also vapid, boring, and gratingly vain.
http://www.toromagazine.com/features/talking-‐to/6ccd8997-‐93a6-‐7714-‐79dc-‐ c100d15f1aa3/Roman-‐Coppola-‐/
All directors project their inner lives on screen. Few have done it quite as literally as Roman Coppola in his new movie A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. While the character’s name and womanizing lifestyle recall lead actor Charlie Sheen, as we learned in this interview it all sprang from the imagination of writer / director Roman Coppola. Watching the movie is like seeing Coppola’s subconscious as performed by a community theatre troupe. The wild comedy stars Sheen in the title role of a graphic designer thrown into turmoil after his girlfriend Ivana (former TORO Woman Katheryn Winnick) ends their relationship. With
the help of friends, including singer / comedian Kirby (Jason Schwartzmann) and his equally lovesick manager Saul (Bill Murray), Swan tries desperately to overcome health problems, win back the love of his life, and finally get around to designing Kirby’s album cover. We spoke with Coppola -‐ currently Oscar-‐nominated for co-‐writing Moonrise Kingdom with frequent collaborator Wes Anderson -‐ about creating Charles, getting his imagination on screen, and whether he has his acceptance speech prepared. Was the role of Charles Swan written for Charlie Sheen? It wasn’t, though he entered my mind toward the end of the writing process. Charlie and I were kids together during Apocalypse Now [directed by Roman’s father Francis, starring Charlie’s father Martin] so we were friends when we 11 years old. We saw each other here and there over the years but a friendship you have at 11 kind of stays with you. I happened to speak with Charlie toward the end of writing and he said, “We should make a movie together someday.” That triggered the thought, that what I was doing could work for him. Did you draw anything from your own life in creating Charles? A lot of things. But it’s not really that I drew from my own life literally, more so my imaginary life, or whatever you’d call it. Like how Charles owns a toucan — I just think toucans are good birds. If I was in a position to own one I would. So (the movie is full of) things I love, or are interested in, or daydream about. The movie is very theatrical. The actors “introduce” themselves to the audience at one point, for example. That’s interesting. I love all (dramatic) forms. It was always intended to be a film, in that I wanted to tell a film story. But in an unusual way — imaginatively. The movie works, I think, because Charles is a likable guy, no matter how self-‐obsessed he is. I never wanted to (make him unlikeable). People do have certain impressions about Charlie the actor, and they might carry that over, bring a little baggage to their viewing. I can tell you the origins of the character — do you remember that guy in the Maxell tape ad? He’s kinda getting blown back. I thought, “I wonder what happened to that guy — oh, maybe his girlfriend dumped him.” It was ultimately a character study about a guy who has all of his problems suddenly coming at him.
Did you find a lot of genuine emotion coming from Charlie Sheen in his performance, considering how much he has in common with the character? Oh, yeah, he has a lot of depth as an actor. I was — delighted is the wrong word — but I was very impressed and happy after shooting the climactic scene. We only had to do a few takes. He just took a moment, then came out and nailed it. I’m very proud of him. People forget how great of an actor he is. You’ve had a lot of experience in the music industry, as a video director. Was Jason Schwartzman’s singer / songwriter character Kirby based on anyone in particular? He’s both a musical and comedy star. He came from a few places; All That Jazz — in that movie there’s a stand-‐up comic character who is clearly a takeoff of Lenny Bruce. And he came from other musical-‐comedy people — Martin Mull, Steve Martin. Do you have your Oscar acceptance speech prepared? It’s such an amazing feeling when you first get nominated, but then you start to worry about jinxing it by putting too much thought into a possible speech. And then you worry about being lazy toward it. I’m kinda in that funny state where I’m both imagining a win and not allowing my mind to go there. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III opens in Toronto February 15.
http://dorkshelf.com/2013/02/14/a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐swan-‐iii-‐review/
It was probably a generational thing, but it’s hard to tell exactly when the “head trip” movie fell out of fashion with auteurist filmmakers. Everyone from Otto Preminger to Roger Corman had a go at fashioning trippy, often darkly comedic looks at psychedelics between the mid-‐60s and the early 80s, but while filmmakers continued to make intensely crazy looking films, most of them tended towards the whimsical (Tim Burton) or overly serious (Gaspar Noe) while never striking a real world balance. In the lugubriously titled A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Roman Coppala creates a very nice period styled comedy that keeps his characters grounded within an offbeat and purposefully bizarre framework. Living quite frequently in his own overactive imagination, sex obsessed ad man Charles Swan (Charlie Sheen) tends to avoid the things in his life that make his seem decidedly less heroic.
The only thing he seems to fantasize about more than sex and heroism is his own death, while selfishly trying to figure out what kind of impact his passing would have on those around him. After a near “death” crisis of faith, Swan begins to look back on his relationship with his actress ex-‐wife Ivana (Katheryn Winnick) mournfully while scheming of potential ways to win back her affections. Coppola has the chops to make this kind of material work, as evidenced by his work with Wes Anderson, his sister Sofia, and his debut feature CQ. He has an eye for the more tragic and humane beats of an offbeat character. Visually adroit and focused on a specific early 70s aesthetic (even though the film never fully specifies when the events are taking place), Coppola makes Swan’s delusions seem stripped down and appropriately left of centre like a young child play incongruously to his surroundings. It makes his central and potentially overpowering titular character seem remarkably human despite being a massive jerk for most of the film. While Coppola brings some interesting themes to the table, it’s Sheen who is knocking them out of the park. Putting aside unfortunate parallels to the actor’s personal life, this is the best performance he’s had in at least two decades. Sheen’s Swan comes across like an unholy mix of Walter Mitty and Robert Evans; the kind of guy who never seems to take his business or his family as serious as he needs to and never once removes his sunglasses unless he has something else to place over his eyes. But Swan isn’t completely irredeemable, as he does have a strange sort of loyalty to those closest to him. He constantly strings his musician best friend Kirby along – telling him he will finish the cover for his new album – but they also have an excellent rapport together when business is set aside. In the role of Kirby, Jason Schwartzman gets the chance to showcase the kind of deadpan comedy he’s been known for, but without the sometimes snarky subtext. Kirby is entirely sympathetic when placed next to Charles, but no less a dynamic and flamboyant personality. Charles also has interesting interactions with his melancholy business manager (Bill Murray, in a strong supporting turn), his sister (Patricia Arquette, who also hasn’t had something this great in quite some time), and his business associate (Aubrey Plaza, for once putting her deadpan style of line reading to appropriate use). As Charles’ former lover, Winnick has to do the lion’s share of the dramatic heavy lifting, and she’s ultimately the glue that holds the film together. It’s easy to see why all of these people gravitate towards Charles and why they can also find themselves equally repulsed by him. They never realize it and the film never spells that out, but they share more in common with the hard partying Swan than they would ever care to let on. At a brief 86 minutes, it’s hard to tell if a movie of this kind is missing anything or if it would benefit from anything being added to it. If anything, the story itself gets glossed over a bit quickly and it’s used as a framing device to transition between Charles’ fantasies in a lot of ways, but structurally it makes sense and the characters are quite strong enough to make it all overcome any potential shortcomings. After far too long away – behind the camera in the case of Coppola and with good material in the case of Sheen – it’s nice to see an actor and director back doing enjoyable work again.
http://thetfs.ca/2013/02/15/review-‐a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐swan-‐iii/
Charles Swan (Charlie Sheen) lives the good life. As the head of a design company, he’s got money, fame, and the love of his girlfriend Ivana (Katheryn Winnic). Everything is going smoothly for Charles until Ivana leaves him, and he suffers a health scare. The loss of Ivana takes over Charles’ life, straining his friendships and hurting business. If he’s going to straighten his life out, Charles is going to have to
deal with his childish fantasies, and curb his selfish and excessive behaviour, essentially becoming the adult that Ivana wanted him to be. Director Roman Coppola’s name is frequently mentioned in the same sentence as Wes Anderson. Working closely with Anderson on The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom, you can see the effect in this film, but Coppola brings a much more extravagant production to the screen. Charles Swan spends as much time in reality as he does in fantasy. From dreaming of his funeral that turns into a song and dance number, to imagining the various women in his life being part of a secret organization, Swan’s fantasies always revolve around his troubled relationships. They also happen to be some of the better parts of the film. Essentially, the film winds up being all flash and little substance. The fantasy scenes look great, but serve only to make a mundane event more exciting. Even the stable of great actors seem underused here, their only purpose to deliver the lines that are written. Without the fantasy sequences, there would only be enough story to fill a short film. Coppola states that he ‘was interested in the idea of taking serious adult issues and playing them out in more of a kid’s movie.’ That pretty much sums up the film right there. Even though all the parts don’t seem to come together, there is a playfulness to the proceedings that is enjoyable. It’s not much of a stretch for Charlie Sheen to step into the role of Charles Swan, which instantly gives the film a feeling of breaking the fourth wall. To his credit, Sheen works well in the role, but how hard is it for him to play a man struggling with his sanity? Everybody else is just there as window dressing, which is unfortunate when you have talent like Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. The ending comes on too quickly, tying things up much too easily. Adult issues in a kid’s movie is the exact feeling, because only in a child’s mind could things work out so perfectly. Is A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Opening Weekend Worthy? It’s probably not necessary to rush to the theatre to see this one. Fans of Charlie Sheen will ultimately enjoy this more than others, but there’s not enough substance to justify a full price admission. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III opens February 15, 2013 at Cineplex Yonge & Dundas Cinemas.
http://www.criticizethis.ca/2013/02/movie-‐review-‐a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐ charles-‐swan-‐iii.html
There’s plenty of big budget fare around at a cinema near you, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t some films that may be a little off the beaten path worth checking out this weekend. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, while occasionally messy, is a truly mad cap meditation on the nature of relationships. Swan (Charlie Sheen) is a man who floats through life on his fame, money and charm and seemingly has a perfect life. However, he discovers that his happiness is a fragile thing when his true love, an enigmatic beauty named Ivana (Katheryn Winnick), breaks off their relationship. Swan begins to unravel, swirling into a downward spiral of doubt, confusion and reflection. With the support of his loyal inner circle; Kirby
(Jason Schwartzman), Saul (Bill Murray), and his sister, Izzy (Patricia Arquette), he sets out on the road to self-‐awareness where he needs to live a life without Ivana. For his second trip directing a feature, Roman Coppola comes through with a vibrantly interesting look at the nature of relationships, especially the grown-‐up one’s. It’s a story that has been told many times before, but so rarely from the man’s perspective. He draws from a number of influences visually that admittedly get a little scatological at times, but in this instance it works as he successful captures a slice of the raw, unfiltered male psyche when going through a breakup. The story moves reasonably well and never gets too hung up at any one moment. The various daydream fantasy sequences play almost independently from the overall narrative, although nothing takes us out of the headspace of the lead character that is supposed to be all over the map any way. Coppola’s script never takes sides in this break-‐up and avoids any tired clichés of mutual friends meeting up and or taking sides, it’s all about the story from Charles’ perspective and that is really why it works. While we had a plethora of interesting supporting players, the entire film hinged around this compelling and well written lead, brought to life by Charlie Sheen. As our charismatic and eccentric successful artist and playboy, Sheen played Swan brilliantly, bringing a self-‐deprecating yet swarthy charm to the role, undoubtedly playing a variation on himself. Sheen made him human and therefore likeable, successfully walking the fine line between the campy media image that Sheen has had in recent years and making Swan a living breathing character. A wonderful supporting cast that includes Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette and Aubrey Plaza gave Sheen wonderful characters to play off of, but it all comes back around to Charles Swan III himself as he slowly becomes a self-‐aware, mature adult for the first time. For a movie like this when tone ranges from borderline spoof to self aware mid-‐life coming of age comedy back to a tender and sweet film about friendships it’s hard to put it in any kind of category. However, I have to suspect that was writer-‐director Roman Coppola’s point to begin with, as A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III is probably all we will ever need. Rating:
Rated 14A Cast: Charlie Sheen, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Patricia Arquette Directed by: Roman Coppola Top image: A scene from A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III.
http://www.pressplus1.com/film-‐reviews/a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐swan-‐iii Movie Review Title: A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Director: Roman Coppola Principle Cast: Charlie Sheen, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Patricia Arquette Legth: 1h 26m Release Date: February 15, 2013 Distributed by:
The son of American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and brother to Sophia Coppola is no stranger to the world of filmmaking. Roman Coppola has written such films as Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom, for which he has received Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. You may know him from his work with such artists as Phoenix, Green Day, Moby and The Strokes, but this time he takes to directing his second full length film, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. While his experience with music video directing is evident here, it is his screenplay and keen eye for detail which really shine through in this bizarre little tale.
Charles Swan (Charlie Sheen) is a successful graphic designer whose life begins to unravel when his girlfriend Ivana (Katheryn Winnick) leaves him. During a moment of anger and hurt he attempts to dispose of some of her belongings, and fails. The result is his car in a swimming pool and him in the hospital, dealing with a heart condition. With the support of his friend, Kirby (Jason Schwartzman), account manager Saul (Bill Murray) and his sister Izzy (Patricia Arquette) he begins to recover and slowly attempts to mend his heart both physically and emotionally. Through all of this he recounts his initial meeting of Izzy and floats in and out of the fantasy world of his mind where he is both saviour and seducer of women. His interactions with his friends allow him to see that relationships and success are delicate and intricate situations that have millions of possibilities.
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III is an incredibly stylish film from the opening credits and is set in a beautifully rendered L.A. With a friend like Wes Anderson it comes as no surprise that Coppola's film is saturated with colour and whimsey. The sets are incredibly detailed and interesting to watch, the neon lights of Swan's house, the sickly-‐sweet pink of the hospital corridors and the lush green of the plants and colourful flowers which seem creep their way in to almost every scene. The intensity of the sets take on an almost storybook quality that pop from the screen and create an almost child-‐like aesthetic. In particular a "cowboy and Indians" scene that recounts innocent moments of youth and adventure like so many Westerns works well in juxtaposition to the adult themes of the story. It is both childlike and adult, playful yet serious. As our glimpse into Swan's mind broadens we begin to see that he is struggling with growing up, realizing that it is time to make decisions about his future.
There are quite a few scenes of musical interlude that feel like the beginnings, or snippets of music videos. This technique is also seen in his sisters films as well. In Lost in Translation, and even more prevalently in Marie Antionette, there are sequences that show the passing of time from the characters perspective with no dialogue or environmental sounds, but only music. Swan drives around in his Cadillac deciding on his next move, or reeling from an emotional event that has affected him, and we are presented with another song. This will either hook audiences into an emotional response, or seem annoying with its repetition. This is where Roman Coppola's experience with the music video format pokes it head out just a little too much. A few of the scenes, while interesting to watch, don't offer much in the way of progressing the story or character development and the movie could do without them. They seem unnecessary but if one were to classify this among American art films, you could also argue they play an important role to the film as a whole. Either way it is a noticeable technique that seemed disjointed from the rest of the movie. The script is often playful and witty, but the rhythm here is much different from the Anderson directed films where characters often have quick dialogue and dry humour. The dialogue here is slightly more subdued and natural sounding, which is a skillful departure from his well rehearsed style of prose. All of the lines are delivered wonderfully by Anderson alum Murray and Schwartzman, who are charming in a way audiences have come to expect from the two. Patricia Arquette looked particularly beautiful and this is by far the best role I have seen her in in some time. The special appearances by Aubrey Plaza, Dermot Mulroney and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were surprising and all seemed natural under Coppola's direction, but it is Sheen's acting that was captivating. While the media has had a great time exposing Sheen's exploits over the past few years, he is quite simply made for this role. He seems confident and skilled as Charles Swan and will without a doubt change the minds of some audience goers, to his favour.
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III is bizarre at times, but mostly it is sad and beautiful. The adult realization of, and dealing with insecurities while life continues to throw its unexpected curveballs our way is the message here, but the sometimes too disconnected narrative prevent this film from being too serious. Its child-‐like presentation of fleeting innocence still allows for this movie to be charming. Roman Coppola has shown that he is a filmmaker with his own voice while still using elements of those in his Hollywood circle.
http://exclaim.ca/Reviews/Film/glimpse_inside_mind_of_charles_swan_iii-‐ directed_by_roman_coppola
Though Roman Coppola's attempts as the screenwriter of The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom were met with mostly positive approval, even though they were
little more than gussied up nostalgia made tolerable by Wes Anderson's eye for aesthetics and composition, he's never demonstrated much acuity for film. With his directorial debut, CQ, he assembled a mostly incoherent and appalling narrative around his preoccupation with the costumes and styles of '60s Paris. With A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, he's reiterated the same basic story — douchebag struggles with his career because he's an alcoholic womanizer that thinks he's in love — only updating it with '70s costumes and styles. And since Coppola is more interested in being perceived as "cool" than actually saying anything, he's cast Charlie Sheen as said douche, suggesting that there's little more awesome than an indulgent, perpetual screw-‐up. Without any directorial panache, or even much of a vision — for someone so preoccupied with how things look, he doesn't think much of storyboarding or utilizing visual trajectories — he presents a mishmash of the titular character's (Sheen) fantasies as he tries to reclaim his lost love (Katheryn Winnick). Said fantasies involve half-‐naked white women dressed as Native-‐Americans chasing him (and Bill Murray) through the desert, along with graveside dance routines and sexist, women-‐in-‐peril rescue ideations. It's all the same boring male nonsense with only vintage tchotchkes and wardrobes (Patricia Arquette goes full hippie as Swan's author sister) to distinguish it as an actual production rather than an accidental assemblage of footage. Since Swan's many fantasies involve people that are living far less glamorous lives in the real world, there's a kernel of truth that the beauty of film and advertising (Swan is an ad man) help make the quotidian more palatable. It's just a shame that nothing about A Glimpse Inside makes anything about the real world more palatable. In fact, it just makes it even more depressing. All that Roman Coppola's exercise in performing his psychological inability to cope with the present proves is that nepotism and networking are far more important than talent. (VSC)
http://dorkshelf.com/tag/roman-‐coppola/
Hey dorks! Time for another great contest brought to you by the lovely folks at GAT PR. Today we want to send five lucky winners and a guest to see an advance screening of Roman Coppala’s new film A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (starring Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman, and Bill Murray) in TORONTO on Monday, February 11th at 7:30pm.
http://scenecreek.com/contests/advance-‐screening-‐a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐ swan-‐iii/attachment/a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐swan-‐iii-‐screening/
http://www.boom973.com/Contests/Register.aspx?ContestID=168456 SYNOPSIS: A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III is the second full-‐ length feature from writer, producer, and director Roman Coppola. Set in a stylized Los Angeles, ‘CHARLES SWAN’ is a playful comedy of lost love, friendship, revenge fantasies, and Brandy Alexanders. Charles (Charlie Sheen) is a successful graphic designer whose fame, money and charm have provided him with a seemingly perfect life. When his true love, a perplexing beauty named Ivana, suddenly breaks off their relationship, Charles’ life falls apart and he swirls into a downward spiral of doubt, confusion and reflection. With the support of his loyal intimates— Kirby (Jason Schwartzman), Saul (Bill Murray), and his sister, Izzy (Patricia Arquette) -‐-‐ he begins the hard road of self-‐evaluation to come to terms with a life without Ivana. The film begs the question: Is it possible to love and hate someone at the same time?
Montreal
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zaki-‐hasan/interview-‐writerdirector-‐_b_2649256.html
After making his entrée into feature directing with 2001's CQ, it took a while for writer/director Roman Coppola to choose a follow-‐up directorial effort: A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. The surrealist comedy starring Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman, and Bill Murray is now playing in select theaters as well as through video-‐on-‐demand, and its surrealist take on the internal struggles of a man (Sheen) dealing with the aftermath of a bad breakup is very much a personal passion project for the writer/director, who's also up for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar this year for his work co-‐writing Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom. I had a chance to chat with Coppola (son of legendary Godfather helmer Francis) last week for the MovieFilm Podcast, and here are some highlights from our conversation: I just watched [the film] last night so it's very fresh in my mind. I was struck by how personal it is. It feels like a small movie and I don't mean that in a pejorative sense. It feels very intimate. I was wondering if you could walk us through the origins. Where did this story come from? It sort of just grew out of... Well, let me rewind for a second. Basically, after I made CQ I was ready for that next thing to hit me and what it was the story I wanted to tell. I knew I wanted to tell a story, and CQ had a very introspective character who lived inside his head and was not very outgoing. I thought I'm going to do something now that's the total opposite. I'm going to do something with a very outgoing character that's filled with pizazz and someone who's just over the top and sort of wild. Those were just the place I was ready to explore. Then I fused that I had an experience in my life where I got dumped by a girlfriend and that was a very interesting experience and that suggested a little kernel of the idea and I realized that the state of mind that I was in when I went through this breakup was very fractured and
you're recalling that person and you still want them back. Then you realize you hate them and then you talk to your friends about it and they give you advice and then you get tired of hearing the stories and you're in this chaotic state of mind. Then I took a couple of years to piece it together and I knew that I wanted a movie that was very free to just have any adventure that it saw fit to have and I wanted a movie that I could have a western scene or have Jason wearing a Carmen Miranda outfit or whatever it was. I just wanted it free and wild and took a bunch of time to piece it all together so that the audience would be able to go along for this ride with me. So, we're talking 12 years I believe almost from CQ to this; or 11 years. What was it about this story that made you say, "This is going to be the one. This is my follow up." It's very mysterious but there's just something that I connected to and related to and I thought other people might relate to. I really value distinctive movies, movies that feel that they came from a person that was really something that they had conceived and they made and is a reflection of who they are. So this film aspires to be of that type; something that once people see it they say "Wow." It pleases me very much because I showed it to some friends and they said "Wow, this movie is so you." I feel that's a wonderful compliment. If everyone...more movies of that type, those are the ones that I want to see. Now, how early in the process did you realize that Charlie Sheen had to be Charles Swan? It was rather late. I actually wrote the script without writing it...I didn't write it for him. It did occur to me as I was wrapping up the script I happened to be in touch with him because Charlie and I knew each other as kids and as I was just wrapping up the writing we happened to speak. A mutual friend put us on the phone together and Charlie said "Hey, one of these days we have to make a movie." I realized that thing that had been on my mind could be so suited for him. That became a little bit of a goal and, "Wow, if I could finish this we could show it to Charlie, and that could be great." I felt like it gave me a purpose and a sense of there's a real chance that it could happen. Sure enough it did. I didn't write it for him but very happy that he came on to play the role because I'm very proud of his performance. Given obviously the high profile he's had for various other stuff it feels like a character that is very much tailored to him. So it's interesting to say how he came on fairly late in the game. Yeah, I think there are a lot of qualities that he shares in his real life with my character. He's the right age. He's a handsome guy. He has tons of charm and wit and his ability and this maybe tendency to use his charm to smooth over certain problems without really addressing them. I think that's something that may be something that comes from his real life. But in many ways, in most ways, the character is quite different from the real Charlie Sheen. It's true, there's certain kind of ingredients like in my film there's a slightly crazy episode where the guy is really suffering and he's driving around and drinking a beer and doing
whatever. You could go, "That seems like Charlie Sheen," but to me it's really just that character who was suffering and just...It just come so natural. It's just a human nature kind of thing. My co-‐host, Brian Hall, actually asked me to pose a question to you about Moonrise Kingdom: Where did that idea germinate and how is that process like when you collaborate with Wes Anderson? Well, it's a very distinctive process in that Wes, of course, is the director of the films that we've collaborated on. I worked on Darjeeling Limited and, of course, Moonrise Kingdom. We are two writers in service of Wes as the director. There is always that sense of him being the final authority. If we're making a choice between something even though I think it should be this way then mission accomplished. He's the director and he's kind of defining that. Do you ever feel like, "I'd prefer to write and directing is just something that I have to do" or is it vice versa? Which is your preferred part of the process, or is there no real distinction between them for you? It's sort of just different things but it shares a lot of similarities. I can't say I have a preference. I mean, of course, working on your own personal work is very gratifying because it's just very much what consumes you. At the same time my work with Wes has been so fun and so...brought me so much new understanding of writing and storytelling so I'm just...I'm just a curious person by nature and just up for anything and everything. I guess I feel a little guilty picking something. The reality is it's very seldom that I might read a script or read something that I don't originate that gets me that excited because there aren't just that many distinctive...I like things that are playful, that are a little far out, that are imaginative, that don't have a lot of set rules but are kind of willing to get creative. Our movie culture at this moment doesn't particularly celebrate that except for when people just manage to do in their own scrappy way. There's not a...Hollywood films don't tend to go for far out things that haven't been done before. That's just generally how it doesn't work at this moment. I hear echoes in what you're saying with a lot of the things that I heard your dad say in his commentary tracks for the Godfather movies in terms of the individual voice having to poke through the big Hollywood machine and how difficult that can be sometimes. Yeah, it's a whole long conversation but right now in the movie business, the Hollywood system is such that there's not a lot of interest in unusual work that hasn't already been tested and proven. It's not really an exploration ground. That's kind of left to others. It's left to the high net worth individuals to do that lifting; which we've seen in recent years all the distinctive movies are paid not by Hollywood but by others...It just seems like it would be beneficial for a business to support that younger generation. ******* Many thanks to Roman Coppola for taking the time to chat up his film. For the full interview, be sure to download or stream the next MovieFilm Podcast, due up this Monday morning!
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-‐ guide/Review+Glimpse+Inside+Mind+Charles+Swann/7964439/story.html
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swann III Bomb Starring: Charlie Sheen, Katheryn Winnick, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette Directed by: Roman Coppola Running time: 86 minutes Parental guidance: language Playing at: Forum cinema MONTREAL -‐ It is safe to say that the world needs to see less rather than more of Charlie Sheen unravelling. Director Roman Coppola, son of the famed filmmaker and vintner Francis, apparently never got this memo. Coppola the Younger, an Oscar nominee for co-‐writing Moonrise Kingdom, has clearly inherited his dad’s gift for stylized directing. But clearly not his dad’s gift for riveting storytelling and substance. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swann III is at least well titled. But a glimpse in this case more than suffices. More vapid and vacuous, a film rarely gets. This is such a special kind of bad that it could well create a cult following on the midnight stoner-‐ flick circuit, provided that patrons are as blitzed as Charlie has been purported to be. Sheen plays the aforementioned Charles Swann III. The character is pretty much an amalgam of the real-‐life Sheen and his former TV persona from Two and a Half Men. And let’s just say that if you weren’t a fan of Sheen before, you will be less of one now. This is the excruciating tale of an indulged, insensitive L.A. carouser Swann (Sheen) whose girlfriend Ivana (Katheryn Winnick) has rightfully dumped him. This sets Swann, evidently a world-‐renowned designer of record-‐album covers, on a path of self-‐destruction. More self-‐destruction, that is. Do we sympathize with Swann? Not remotely. Do we find his friends interesting? Not at all.
Count me among the biggest Bill Murray fans on the planet. Whether he be in a Moonrise Kingdom or Ghostbusters or even goofing around on a golf course, he has never failed to crack me up. Until now. He plays Swann’s business manager/buddy Saul and looks as bored as filmgoers who catch this alleged comedy will be. Also going down for the count are the usually reliable Jason Schwartzman, as Swann’s singer-‐comic crony Kirby, and Patricia Arquette, as Swann’s dizzy sister Izzy. As to why Swann can’t hold on to Ivana, it’s simple, according to his shrink. With a close-‐up of Swann’s brain on screen, his psychiatrist points out that 70 per cent of this organ is focused on sex. To further illustrate this point, a gaggle of scantily clad babes are seen bouncing in Charlie’s brain. Much of the rest of his brain is concerned with money and power. Swann is so distraught after Ivana has bolted that he tries to rid himself of any reminders of her. But in so doing, he ends up driving off a cliff into a swimming pool. For a minute, it appears that Swann has perished in the mishap. But, no, it’s only a fantasy sequence. He emerges in a hospital, full of self-‐pity. A pity-‐ play for Charlie? Really! Coppola the Younger is big on fantasy sequences, be they Wild West of yore or Wild Hollywood of the ’70s. In one, the director has Swann on a white steed as a sort of Lone Ranger with Kirby as his Tonto. Naturally, they encounter a tribe of comely native women. But it turns out that this tribe of women, known as the “ball-‐busters,” has a new member, Ivana, and to show their disdain for Charlie, they attack him with their bows and arrows. He survives. For the record, Charlie is most consistent on one level. He sports his aviator shades throughout the film — save for a shower sequence. But one wonders if this is more a Hollywood image statement or if Sheen’s unshielded eyes may suggest another level of consciousness. On the plus side, though, Swann does have a nifty vintage vehicle, with a couple of fried eggs painted on one side and bacon on the other. So much for highlights. Also on the plus side, the film lasts a little over 80 minutes. But, trust me, you will be counting down the seconds, not the minutes, till the lights come back on. Coppola Jr. would do well to learn from his sometime writing buddy Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums) that it takes a lot more than self-‐ absorbed Hollywood bad-‐asses to make memorable movies. Story helps.
http://mcgilltribune.com/a-‐legendary-‐film-‐dynasty-‐unveils-‐its-‐prince/
Charlie Sheen is clutching a bottle of vodka in one hand, and $800 worth of caviar in the other. The two alternate in entering his mouth. These are comfort foods—the taxi driver was unable to supply the “coke” and “grass” that Sheen initially requested. No, this isn’t TMZ’s latest update. Rather, it’s a scene from Charlie Sheen’s blazing return to film. In A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, written and directed by Roman Coppola, Sheen plays the titular role of a graphic designer who’s stuck in a rut. His midlife crisis is catalyzed when his girlfriend Ivana (Canadian actor Katheryn Winnick), fed up with Swan’s womanizing ways, leaves him for greener pastures. The cast is rounded out by Bill Murray (whose deadpan is as deadly as ever) and Jason Schwartzman (with a ‘fro that has to be seen to be believed). The similarities between Charles Swan and Charlie Sheen—the name, the shenanigans, the alcohol consumption—are all too apparent. But Coppola insists that the role went to Sheen for other reasons. “I didn’t cast Charlie because of all that public stuff, I cast him because he’s a great actor,” Coppola tells the Tribune. “He’s charming, he’s funny … he’s got rebel charisma, and incredible depth and acting chops.” Coppola’s relationship with Sheen can be traced back to his time on the set of his father Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), when Coppola was just 11 years old. Universally regarded as one of the most influential and powerful war films ever made—it makes an appearance on venerated critic Roger Ebert’s top ten list—Apocalypse Now stars Charlie Sheen’s father, Martin Sheen. The children of these two greats hit it off, and have kept in touch ever since. “A friendship made at that age is very enduring,” Coppola says. Charlie Sheen isn’t the only big name with whom Coppola is close. In addition to directing Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola brought The Godfather Trilogy to screen, forever cementing his reputation as one of the greatest American filmmakers. Roman Coppola’s sister, Sofia Coppola, has directed a string of hits, including Lost in Translation (2003), for which she won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Though one can only imagine what it’s like to have such cinematic giants around the dinner table every night, Roman Coppola is clear-‐minded and down-‐to-‐earth.
“You know, people are very curious about [my family],” he says, chuckling. “I always want to give a good answer to enlighten or something, but the answer isn’t quite as satisfying.” He continues: “My sister, my dad—these are just people in my family. All the unusual experiences that I’ve had … you just take it all in and it just becomes your life and who you are.” Coppola is also on track to follow in his sister’s footsteps, having just been nominated for an Academy Award for co-‐writing Moonrise Kingdom with the darling of American indie film, Wes Anderson, a friend with whom he is “in sync with creatively.” Coppola’s involvement with the film was, as he describes it, rather fortuitous: “It was something [Anderson] was thinking about, but he couldn’t quite find its form,” Coppola says. “It was all kind of there, gestating; all the raw materials were in his mind, but he couldn’t find how it all went together.” “I was asking as a friend, ‘Hey, what do you have?’ He played some music, read me a few early scenes, and when he did that, it became very clear in my mind: ‘Oh, okay. I totally get it.’” The result is a wildly imaginative feature that, for Coppola, was also “a lot of fun and a great experience.” So what’s next for Coppola? “I don’t really know,” he replies, as modest and level-‐headed as he has been the entire interview. “I’ll allow myself just a little moment to let things occur to me.” A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III opens Feb. 15 at the Cineplex Forum (2313 Ste-‐Catherine West).
http://www.ledevoir.com/culture/cinema/371021/tete-‐a-‐claques
Quelques minutes suffisent pour que s’installe chez le spectateur une impression d’abord diffuse mais vite persistante : A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III a beau être signé par Roman Coppola, il ressemble à s’y méprendre à un film de Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom). Ce n’est pas étonnant puisque le fils de Francis Ford Coppola est un proche collaborateur de ce cinéaste inspiré et déjanté, dont les univers ressemblent souvent à des bandes dessinées. Sans compter qu’ils se partagent plusieurs têtes d’affiche, ajoutant aux similitudes embarrassantes.
Roman Coppola tente aussi d’insuffler un esprit « cartoonesque » à cette pochade qui évoque l’esprit débridé et folichon d’un Fellini, même si nous sommes loin, très loin, de La dolce vita ou de 8 1/2. Charles Swan III porte toutefois des lunettes fumées -‐ il les enlèvera rarement -‐, mais avec moins de classe que Mastroianni, d’autant plus que nous avons affaire ici à l’acteur… Charlie Sheen. Le roi des frasques semble même jouer son propre rôle, à la seule différence que nous sommes plongés dans le clinquant criard des années 1970 à Hollywood. Ce graphiste de renom, en pleine peine d’amour, tente de reconquérir celle qui vient de le plaquer avec fracas, tout cela entre deux rasades d’alcool, un spectaculaire accident de bagnole, les demandes pressantes de son copain chanteur (Jason Schwartzman) pour une nouvelle pochette, les jérémiades de son gérant (Bill Murray) et celles de sa soeur écrivain (Patricia Arquette). Ses délires mentaux, nombreux et sous influence(s), mettent en scène son entourage, tour à tour personnages de western ou vedettes de variétés télévisées, succession de vignettes parfois amusantes, parfois brouillonnes, mais surtout des distractions pour directeur artistique en quête de liberté créatrice. Cette reconquête amoureuse doublée d’une laborieuse quête de sens affiche une minceur affligeante, croulant à la fois sous la quincaillerie visuelle d’une époque pas si lointaine et d’une enfilade de situations grotesques dans lesquelles Charlie Sheen apparaît rarement amusant. Bien qu’il exécute deux ou trois pas de danse et écorche au passage son image de mauvais garçon, sa présence indolente ne dynamise en rien un film totalement décousu, repiquant les meilleures idées des autres mais incapable de les servir sans un arrière-‐goût de réchauffé.
Collaborateur
http://theconcordian.com/2013/02/nowhere-‐to-‐go-‐but-‐down/
If you imagine the film 8 ½ , but directed by Wes Anderson and with all the heart and soul stripped out of it, and with the cast and crew coked out of their minds, you would come close to understanding what it feels like to watch A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III. With a title of this grandeur, especially when names like Coppola, Sheen, Murray, Schwartzman, and Arquette are associated with it, and there’s a clear nod to Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, one would expect an equally grand and spectacular experience. However, what we get is a film with a single, simple narrative. The plot revolves around Charles Swan a graphic designer who gets dumped by his girlfriend, Ivana, when she discovers pornographic photographs of his former lovers stuffed in a drawer. In an effort to cleanse, or perhaps avenge himself of Ivana (played by Katheryn Winnick), Swan attempts to throw her shoes over a cliff, down which he subsequently falls and is brought to a hospital for treatment of body and soul. Charlie Sheen plays the womanizing titular character, who, in addition to recovering from his physical injuries at the hospital, is receiving help for drug-‐related health
issues and is in therapy to deal with his debaucherous lifestyle (sound familiar?). The audience is treated to Swan’s introspection through the manifestation of psychedelic memories and dreams. The first of these dream sequences depict Swan’s funeral in which only the women in his life are in attendance and during which Swan rises out of his grave and proceeds to tango with these women. And it only gets more bizarre from there. In other sketches, Swan gets attacked by his former lovers in a league they have formed, in his imagination, called the S.S.B.B. (Secret Society of Ball-‐Busters), who while dressed as sexy navy officers attempt to launch a missile attack on him. In another sequence they are dressed as sexy native-‐american women riding feathered horses with bows and arrows, trying to capture him. Throughout his journey of self-‐examination, Swan is supported by his sister played by Patricia Arquette, his friend and client Kirby (Jason Schwartzman) and his accountant Saul (Bill Murray). While these actors do indeed bring a warmth much needed amidst this wild onscreen trip, their roles add next to nothing to the plot, rendering their characters inexplicable. In fact, the entire production makes one feel as if they had just walked in on a private pot session between these actors and their directorial captain, Roman Coppola. This unwelcoming feeling comes from what seems to be fragmented and incohesive visual depictions of a simple story made up of random cellulose pieces put haphazardly together. Obvious signifiers such as Swan’s T-‐shirt which features his own name, kitsch ‘70s ambiance and stock wardrobes seem quite indulgent just to tell a few inside jokes and draw parallels between Sheen and Swan. The only constant is the hyper Wes Anderson-‐style with which this film is made. Coppola, who co-‐wrote The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom with the whimsical Anderson, achieves none of the charm despite a Pink Floyd-‐inspired musical score, saturated colours, picturesque scenery and an impressive array of ‘70s paraphernalia. The film lacks humour, depth and an actual emotional study of Charles Swan; although it would be be negligent not to mention that Sheen does indeed play Swan’s character to perfection. Quelle surprise! A Glimpse Into The Mind Of Charles Swan III opens in Canadian theatres on Feb. 15
http://www.cjad.com/EntertainmentCP/Article.aspx?id=364362
TORONTO -‐ When director Roman Coppola first envisioned Charlie Sheen for the lead role in his new film "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III," the actor was still one of the most powerful men in TV starring on the top-‐rated comedy "Two and a Half Men."
By the time Coppola finally got his longtime friend to commit to the project, Sheen had devolved into a drug-‐addled punchline and no film studio wanted anything to do with him. But Coppola stuck by Sheen — whom he first met while their fathers worked together on "Apocalypse Now" in the late 1970s — convinced he was perfect for the part of Charles Swan, a rich, aging ladies man whose life starts unravelling after a bad breakup. The people who had to sign the cheques to make "Charles Swan," on the other hand, weren't so sure about Sheen. "A lot of people around me, certainly investors and stuff, were like, 'Oh my god, we're not going to go near this in terms of financing,' a movie with someone they perceived to be, you know..." says Coppola before trailing off. "Charlie, as big of a star as he is in TV, was not particularly bankable." Casting Sheen wasn't the only obstacle to raising money for the film. Coppola — who's nominated for the best original screenplay Oscar for "Moonrise Kingdom" with Wes Anderson — imagined a trippy, unconventional narrative for "Charles Swan," which didn't exactly spark a bidding war among hit-‐seeking studios. The story of Sheen's character is told through a non-‐chronological melange of dreams, fantasies and memories — along with scenes from his present-‐day turmoil. Coppola says the story and its themes of love and love lost are based on amped-‐up versions of own experiences. "I cooked it up in 2003/04 and around that time I had a breakup with a girlfriend and my friend was going through a divorce. So we would hang out and talk and say, 'I love her! I hate her! Do you want her back? No way! Yes, I want her back!' There's this kind of chaotic swirl of confusion — you want to talk about it, but you don't want to talk about it, you can't stop thinking about it — it's just kind of a crazy, dazed state of mind that you get in," he says. "It occurred to me: 'Wow, this is an interesting starting point for a film where a character is processing what he just went through in this kind of kaleidoscopic way." His scattered storytelling vision didn't make it easy to sell the movie, even though he recruited an impressive cast of supporting actors, including Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette, Aubrey Plaza and Canadian Katheryn Winnick. "It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea ... this film was basically turned down by everybody," admits Coppola.
"Financiers want to have a precedent for what they're investing in and they want to be able to point to another product ... so there's very little interest in financing something that isn't a proven form or genre. "Not to rag on anything, but there's a bit of a same-‐ness to a lot of movies. Movies that have an individuality that perhaps try something or are a bit more inventive, those are (movies) I really value." Coppola says his experience working with Anderson in some ways shaped "Charles Swan" and encouraged him to embrace his un-‐Hollywood ideas. "There's such a distinctive path that he takes. It's inspiring for me in my work to really try to ask myself what do I want to do, because Wes is very clear-‐headed about what appeals to him and he's known for that defined sense of his personality," he says. "So I think in the process of writing my piece, after having worked with Wes, you sort of say, 'Jeez, I could have this, I could have that but what do I really want to have, what is that choice that really is a reflection of who I am?' "And that's a little something that came out of working with Wes, it's basically being true to yourself." Part of that commitment to his ideas was sticking with Sheen. He's glad he did. "He came through in the biggest way, he took Spanish lessons, dance lessons and just jumped in in a super dedicated way and couldn't have been more professional and more available," Coppola says. "And in my opinion, really brought a great performance." "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III" opens Friday in Toronto and Montreal and on Feb. 18 in Vancouver.
http://www.joblo.com/movie-‐news/review-‐a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐ swan-‐iii
PLOT: A seventies graphic designer, Charles Swan III (Charlie Sheen) tries to sort out his life after being dumped by his girlfriend (Katheryn Winnick). REVIEW: A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III was a film I really wanted to like. Charlie Sheen gets a bad rap-‐ not only from his very public meltdown, but also from years spent on sitcoms like TWO & A HALF MEN, and ANGER MANAGEMENT. We all tend to forget that for a while, Sheen was a really good dramatic actor. His performances in PLATOON, and WALL STREET hold up beautifully, and I'd argue his cameo in MONEY NEVER SLEEPS was the best part of that film. Heck-‐
even his comedies, like HOT SHOTS were funny as hell. The guy has presence, and charisma. Put him together with Roman Coppola, who directed the underrated CQ, and I assumed you'd get a really cool flick.
Indeed, A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III might seem like a cool flick to some. For me, it was kind of an ordeal. It seems like Coppola was trying to make a riff on Fellini's 8 1/2, with the ladies man director played by Marcello Mastroianni being replaced by the graphic designer played by Sheen. Like Mastroianni, Sheen constantly wears sunglasses (even in a hospital bed), and is susceptible to flights of fantasy, where he re-‐imagines himself and his friends as cowboys being hunted by the women in his life-‐ re-‐imagined as Indians, or in some cheesy euro-‐space epic. These fantasy segments tend to dominate what little story there is, and sure enough-‐ they allow Coppola to go full-‐on into the retro-‐camp vibe he used in CQ. They look cool (Nick Beal's cinematography is excellent), but the problem is that they try really hard to be funny or clever, and merely come off as cheesy and stale. This wouldn't be a fatal flaw if at least the A-‐story, being Swan's struggle to rebound from his failed relationship, was good-‐ but while Sheen is pretty solid in this tailor-‐ made role, you won't care about Swan or his problems. Like Sheen himself, Swan enjoys his chemicals, partying, and women-‐ and while it's fun to see him get up to some mischief, the appeal wears off when you realize the story is going nowhere.
The best thing about SWAN is Bill Murray, who-‐ even in the worst films, manages to be memorable. Here, he plays Swan's business manager, who-‐ like Swan, is dealing with his own lady-‐troubles. He also figures significantly into Swan's fantasies, along with Jason Schwartzman, who plays Swan's best pal-‐ who seems to be some kind of hybrid comedian-‐musician (and sports a hideous seventies perm-‐beard combo). One of the few other things I really liked about CHARLIE SWAN was the song score by Liam Hayes-‐ which, while I was watching the film, I actually thought was music from the era-‐ but is original. Hayes breaks the fourth wall and introduces himself during the end credits-‐ and I will say that CHARLES SWAN has got me interested in checking out his stuff. I don't especially enjoy giving movies like A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III bad reviews, as I like the people involved (including Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aubrey Plaza-‐ who show up in small parts), the era it depicts, and Roman Coppola's other work. But-‐ I can't deny that right from the start, SWAN struck a sour note for me, and eventually became a real endurance test to sit through-‐ even at barely eighty minutes. There's no doubt in my mind that SWAN will find some fans, and that it might pick up some kind of cult following, but I really didn't care for it-‐ at all. Stay home and rent 8 1/2 instead. It's pretty much the same story, just done a heck of a lot better.
http://www.lapresse.ca/cinema/201301/18/49-‐3667-‐a-‐glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐ swan-‐iii.php
À Los Angeles, au début des années 1970, l'univers de Charles Swan III, publicitaire-‐graphiste branché et très en demande, est chamboulé par le départ de sa compagne Ivana, qui a trouvé des photographies osées de ses ex-‐ petites amies dans un tiroir. En voulant jeter dans un ravin un sac contenant les multiples paires de chaussures de sa belle, Charles se blesse gravement et se retrouve à l'hôpital. En proie à diverses rêveries et délires, le patient reçoit la visite de son excentrique gérant et de sa soeur, une jeune mère hippie qui espère publier un premier roman, dont il a promis d'illustrer la page couverture. Charles s'est également engagé à produire la pochette du prochain disque de son meilleur ami, un humoriste et musicien d'origine juive. À sa sortie de l'hôpital, le graphiste repentant met tout en oeuvre pour reconquérir Ivana.
Vancouver
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-‐ guide/Director+Roman+Coppola+sticks+Charlie+Sheen+casts+Glimpse+Inside +Mind+Charles+Swan/7965492/story.html TORONTO — When director Roman Coppola first envisioned Charlie Sheen for the lead role in his new film “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III,” the actor was still one of the most powerful men in TV starring on the top-‐rated comedy “Two and a Half Men.” By the time Coppola finally got his longtime friend to commit to the project, Sheen had devolved into a drug-‐addled punchline and no film studio wanted anything to do with him. But Coppola stuck by Sheen — whom he first met while their fathers worked together on “Apocalypse Now” in the late 1970s — convinced he was perfect for the part of Charles Swan, a rich, aging ladies man whose life starts unravelling after a bad breakup. The people who had to sign the cheques to make “Charles Swan,” on the other hand, weren’t so sure about Sheen. “A lot of people around me, certainly investors and stuff, were like, ‘Oh my god, we’re not going to go near this in terms of financing,’ a movie with someone they perceived to be, you know...” says Coppola before trailing off. “Charlie, as big of a star as he is in TV, was not particularly bankable.” Casting Sheen wasn’t the only obstacle to raising money for the film. Coppola — who’s nominated for the best original screenplay Oscar for “Moonrise Kingdom” with Wes Anderson — imagined a trippy, unconventional narrative for “Charles Swan,” which didn’t exactly spark a bidding war among hit-‐seeking studios. The story of Sheen’s character is told through a non-‐chronological melange of dreams, fantasies and memories — along with scenes from his present-‐day turmoil. Coppola says the story and its themes of love and love lost are based on amped-‐up versions of own experiences. “I cooked it up in 2003/04 and around that time I had a breakup with a girlfriend and my friend was going through a divorce. So we would hang out and talk and say, ‘I love her! I hate her! Do you want
her back? No way! Yes, I want her back!’ There’s this kind of chaotic swirl of confusion — you want to talk about it, but you don’t want to talk about it, you can’t stop thinking about it — it’s just kind of a crazy, dazed state of mind that you get in,” he says. “It occurred to me: ‘Wow, this is an interesting starting point for a film where a character is processing what he just went through in this kind of kaleidoscopic way.” His scattered storytelling vision didn’t make it easy to sell the movie, even though he recruited an impressive cast of supporting actors, including Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette, Aubrey Plaza and Canadian Katheryn Winnick. “It’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea ... this film was basically turned down by everybody,” admits Coppola. “Financiers want to have a precedent for what they’re investing in and they want to be able to point to another product ... so there’s very little interest in financing something that isn’t a proven form or genre. “Not to rag on anything, but there’s a bit of a same-‐ness to a lot of movies. Movies that have an individuality that perhaps try something or are a bit more inventive, those are (movies) I really value.” Coppola says his experience working with Anderson in some ways shaped “Charles Swan” and encouraged him to embrace his un-‐Hollywood ideas. “There’s such a distinctive path that he takes. It’s inspiring for me in my work to really try to ask myself what do I want to do, because Wes is very clear-‐headed about what appeals to him and he’s known for that defined sense of his personality,” he says. “So I think in the process of writing my piece, after having worked with Wes, you sort of say, ‘Jeez, I could have this, I could have that but what do I really want to have, what is that choice that really is a reflection of who I am?’ “And that’s a little something that came out of working with Wes, it’s basically being true to yourself.” Part of that commitment to his ideas was sticking with Sheen. He’s glad he did. “He came through in the biggest way, he took Spanish lessons, dance lessons and just jumped in in a super dedicated way and couldn’t have been more professional and more available,” Coppola says. “And in my opinion, really brought a great performance.” “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III” opens Friday in Toronto and Montreal and on Feb. 18 in Vancouver.
http://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/movies/director-‐roman-‐coppola-‐sticks-‐by-‐ charlie-‐sheen-‐casts-‐him-‐to-‐star-‐in-‐new-‐film-‐1.73230 TORONTO -‐ When director Roman Coppola first envisioned Charlie Sheen for the lead role in his new film "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III," the actor was still one of the most powerful men in TV starring on the top-‐rated comedy "Two and a Half Men." By the time Coppola finally got his longtime friend to commit to the project, Sheen had devolved into a drug-‐addled punchline and no film studio wanted anything to do with him. But Coppola stuck by Sheen — whom he first met while their fathers worked together on "Apocalypse Now" in the late 1970s — convinced he was perfect for the part of Charles Swan, a rich, aging ladies man whose life starts unravelling after a bad breakup. The people who had to sign the cheques to make "Charles Swan," on the other hand, weren't so sure about Sheen. "A lot of people around me, certainly investors and stuff, were like, 'Oh my god, we're not going to go near this in terms of financing,' a movie with someone they perceived to be, you know..." says Coppola before trailing off. "Charlie, as big of a star as he is in TV, was not particularly bankable." Casting Sheen wasn't the only obstacle to raising money for the film. Coppola — who's nominated for the best original screenplay Oscar for "Moonrise Kingdom" with Wes Anderson — imagined a trippy, unconventional narrative for "Charles Swan," which didn't exactly spark a bidding war among hit-‐ seeking studios. The story of Sheen's character is told through a non-‐chronological melange of dreams, fantasies and memories — along with scenes from his present-‐day turmoil. Coppola says the story and its themes of love and love lost are based on amped-‐up versions of own experiences. "I cooked it up in 2003/04 and around that time I had a breakup with a girlfriend and my friend was going through a divorce. So we would hang out and talk and say, 'I love her! I hate her! Do you want her back? No way! Yes, I want her back!' There's this kind of chaotic swirl of confusion — you want to
talk about it, but you don't want to talk about it, you can't stop thinking about it — it's just kind of a crazy, dazed state of mind that you get in," he says. "It occurred to me: 'Wow, this is an interesting starting point for a film where a character is processing what he just went through in this kind of kaleidoscopic way." His scattered storytelling vision didn't make it easy to sell the movie, even though he recruited an impressive cast of supporting actors, including Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette, Aubrey Plaza and Canadian Katheryn Winnick. "It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea ... this film was basically turned down by everybody," admits Coppola. "Financiers want to have a precedent for what they're investing in and they want to be able to point to another product ... so there's very little interest in financing something that isn't a proven form or genre. "Not to rag on anything, but there's a bit of a same-‐ness to a lot of movies. Movies that have an individuality that perhaps try something or are a bit more inventive, those are (movies) I really value." Coppola says his experience working with Anderson in some ways shaped "Charles Swan" and encouraged him to embrace his un-‐Hollywood ideas. "There's such a distinctive path that he takes. It's inspiring for me in my work to really try to ask myself what do I want to do, because Wes is very clear-‐headed about what appeals to him and he's known for that defined sense of his personality," he says. "So I think in the process of writing my piece, after having worked with Wes, you sort of say, 'Jeez, I could have this, I could have that but what do I really want to have, what is that choice that really is a reflection of who I am?' "And that's a little something that came out of working with Wes, it's basically being true to yourself." Part of that commitment to his ideas was sticking with Sheen. He's glad he did. "He came through in the biggest way, he took Spanish lessons, dance lessons and just jumped in in a super dedicated way and couldn't have been more professional and more available," Coppola says. "And in my opinion, really brought a great performance." "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III" opens Friday in Toronto and Montreal and on Feb. 18 in Vancouver.
http://twitchfilm.com/2013/02/exclusive-‐interview-‐roman-‐coppola-‐talks-‐charles-‐swan-‐and-‐ more.html
I had the pleasure a few weeks ago of chatting with Roman Coppola, writer/director of the irritatingly titled A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swann III. This is the first feature from Coppola sitting in the director's chair since 2001's CQ, but he's certainly kept busy, working on the second unit on family productions -‐-‐ his sister's Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette, his father's Tetro and Youth Without Youth -‐-‐ as well as helping write and second unit direct more than one project with Wes Anderson. It's Anderson's quirky style that is most hearkened by this film, yet, as I mentioned in my review, it lacks the kind of coherence and sense of satisfaction one gets from Anderson's playful pieces. Still, there's a tremendous warmth in Coppola's film, despite the overtly miserable tale of betrayal and heartbreak, and while it's a failure as a film, it's an interesting one, with moments (such as the delightful ending) that make it something at least worth contending with. After some fitting, almost diagetic twangy guitar music that played while I was on hold during the transfer, I began our conversation by mentioning the recent good news about his latest collaboration with Anderson. Twitch: First of all, Mazel Tov on the Oscar nomination! Roman Coppola: [Pause] OK.
I thought of CHARLES SWAN as Fellini meets HERMAN'S HEAD meets AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON. How did you keep everything straight while you literally and figuratively made a "kitchen sink" movie? It took a long time. Time was a tool, in a way. I had a lot of scraps, and notions and images. The starting point was I wanted the feeling of a breakup. When you break up with someone, at least in my experience, you're thrown into a razzle-‐dazzle state of confusion and suffering, even some enlightenment and joy. I had a notion of what I wanted to do, and over time I'd say, "There's a Western scene, and he gets shot by an arrow, and then he's in a hospital," and he's a bullshit artist, so maybe he gets a best bullshit award, and you just free associate to all this stuff. To your point, it did take a kind of editorial approach at a certain point; once I'd created all this wacky stuff, I had to figure out a way to weave it together. I didn't want to disorient the viewer, I wanted them to be swept up in it. So that was my task, how to have this craziness, this kaleidoscopic approach, but make it make sense and draw an audience through. That was my challenge, and hopefully I pulled it off adequately. Another part of the challenge is that the film centres on what at least superficially is a highly unlikable character. How did you try to work that out in terms of tonal balance? Obviously, with an actor like Charlie Sheen there's a lot of preconceived feelings about him as a person. A recent interviewer asked me, "I found that he wasn't despicable, was that your intention?" No, it was never my intention that he was despicable! He was a portrayal of someone who is a cad, a bullshit artist, and has some qualities are less than super honourable, but he's also a gentle person who's imaginative and has some charm and wit. You had to strike a balance -‐ the guy had to be a mess, but we as an audience have to stick with him through his struggles. Still, It's not so hard to see why his girlfriend dumped his ass! Right. [Chuckles] I guess that was to me the challenge, or something fun about it. He is an overblown character, his appetites are large, he's obsessive, he's outrageous in his way and kind of childlike. It's fun to portray a character that's out of whack, but I hope that it bordered on overload but that he did portray a certain likable quality. For me, one of the best complements I got when I showed the movie, I had thought it's a very "guy" movie, a guy processing a breakup, and a woman said to me, "Oh, wow, I really connected with that character, and my experiences with a breakup." I thought that was pretty cool, that a woman could associate with that character, it was a nice complement.
It seems an intimate production. When you have the celebratory finale, it almost feels like a family celebration. Obviously you have your cousin in it, and your leading actor has a strong connection to your family's history. Was this sense of the familial a result of the freedom afforded by low-‐budget filmmaking, or was it always intentional, right from the script stage? When I was writing it, I wanted it to be intimate, it's a character study and I wanted that kind of closeness. The way I was able to make this movie was through the help of my friends and colleagues. I shot in my house, Charlie wears some of my clothes, Jason [Schwartman] is my cousin. We had to do a shoot day to qualify for a tax credit, and both Charlie and Jason came down, I got this wig, I put a perm on it, and we shot in my office. A lot of the locations I had found as I was writing -‐-‐ I'd go down Mulholland to visit Charlie, perhaps to talk about the script with him, and found the place where he'd throw the bags. It was made in a very handmade way, with a lot of friends of colleagues. That last shot on the beach, that was our crew, and we were all celebrating because we were over the hump of the movie, that was something I'm proud of, that camaraderie. The music of Liam "Plush" Hayes is all over
the film. Did you learn about him from HIGH FIDELITY? What was your connection with his music? Jason turned me on to him. More You Becomes You (1998) was the first record, I loved it, it spoke to me. I got his next record, Fed (2002), and I'd thought I'd get more of the same, of this kind of introspective, intimate music. If you're familiar with Fed, it's this kind of balls out, big orchestration, arrangements with horn sections, epic pop music. That blew me away a second time! So I realized his musical DNA, the intimate, contemplative feeling with this kind of far out, big sound was the identity of the movie. So the movie would have this intimacy, the guy's poking around his house, he can't quite get his shit together, and then the garage door opens, and this Cadillac rolls out. It's super bombastic, just over-‐the-‐top. I can't say enough about how much Liam'influenced the movie, this movie would not exist if it were not for his music. Did you write it while listening to specific tracks? Absolutely, 100%. Liam sitting there at his Hammond B3 at the finale is my favourite part of the film! [Laughs]
Bear with me here. You credited four artists for the artwork you attribute in the film to Charles Swan: Charles White III, who did the original STAR WARS roadshow poster, Peter Palombi, who did the AMERICAN GRAFFITI poster, Alex Tavoularis, who did original storyboards and designs for STAR WARS, and David Willardson, who is famous for doing Disney inspired illustrations. Is this your roundabout way of saying you're in line to work on one of the next STAR WARS films for Uncle George? Ah. That's a very clever way to connect all those things, but uh, you know uh, what's the word... Stupid? Coincidence! I was aware of those guys growing up, seeing the Star Wars poster, seeing the American Graffiti poster. My dad had a magazine called "City Magazine" that was art directed by Michael Salisbury [Author note: He did the ILM logo -‐ the connection continues!], who was the genius behind all that kind of imagery, so it was all a part of my life. Any news on a potential CQ Blu-‐ray release? I know some who would be quite excited at the thought It hasn't come to my attention, but that would be wonderful. Of course, it didn't get a lot of notice when it came out, so it's nice to hear that there's interest. That's a good idea, I should look into getting a Blu-‐ray going. Your association with the Andersonian universe is rich, and may drown out your own voice sometimes with your own projects due to inevitable comparisons. Is this something you actively think about with your projects? When I do work with Wes, it's a given that he's a director, and I'm a co-‐writer, and that the writer's there to serve the director's needs. There's no confusion in my mind; they're his movies, and I'm part of a team on that. With regards to a public perception, just an average Joe saying, "Oh, it's similar in this way, or that way," it's not my concern or job to speak for them. Hopefully for those people who like Wes' movies, it would suggest that they like imaginative things that are individual, created by someone that's trying to something fresh and original. Those categories, I feel my work relates. Given that it's a film about imagination coming to life, did the film itself live up to your initial inspiration?
Yes and no. When you conceive something, or write something, you have very high expectations, you're imagining something huge and epic. There are certain scenes in my film I'm imagining a huge Western sequence, Searchers or whatever it was, and when it comes down to reality you can't afford to have hundreds of horsemen in the valley, so you get by as you can. In certain ways it improves the movie in the intimacy, the playful factor. I love solving practical problems with creative solutions. Rather than saying, "Oh, we can't do that scene," it's "Well, how can we do it?" I'm proud of that. In a way it's lesser than I imagined, but some of the effect is more soulful, perhaps. The area that's always the real joy and that surpasses what you imagined while you were sitting there writing or daydreaming is what the performers bring. Like when Bill Murray lies face down on the bed? Was that improvised? It's him doing it, in that moment. I created the condition for that to happen, but he did it. That's the real place that you soar, I never would have thought of that. That's where your expectations are far exceeded, what Jason does, what Charlie brings, what Bill does and the rest of my cast. That's the real joy. In order to capture those moments, you wisely kept with the master shot. Was that planned from the beginning or a stylistic choice you discovered during editing? When you prepare a movie you don't want to cut if you don't have to. Cutting is to emphasize something, or to work around a problem or a technical thing. When I shot the scene with Bill and Charlie in the hospital, we did it in a single take, and I was confident we had it, but I did do additional coverage just to have it in case we needed to shorten something. [The previous scene] with the horse woman, and Jason, and all that kind of stuff, I thought it was a nice contrast. I can't remember if in CQ that I did it, but I like it. On a practical level it can be an aid when you're shooting on a tight schedule -‐-‐ that's one take, that's one take, you just kind of get a lot of time-‐sapping sidetracks off the table and you kind of commit to those few things. I was comfortable to commit to those pockets of single takes, and then the other stuff would have more conventional coverage as a way to get more diversity, and also be respectful to the performer carrying the load. Great, thank you very much! Thanks for your interest A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III is playing in selected theatres in the US, and on VOD/Itunes. It opens in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver on February 15, 2013.
A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWANN III: http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/newmovies/safe-‐haven-‐beautiful-‐creatures-‐die-‐ hard-‐and-‐made-‐vancouver-‐escape-‐planet-‐earth Sometime between his two TV series (the one he was famously fired from and his new one) Charlie Sheen found time to star in this movie about a character apparently not unlike himself. That suspected correlation is a possible reason to see it. There aren’t many. While it’s playful and effervescent, it’s also indulgent and unsubtle. It tries to be quirky like a Wes Anderson film. Writer-‐director Roman Coppola and actors Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray have all worked with him, most recently on Moonrise Kingdom). Without him though, the wit is weak.
Swan is a celebrity graphic artist in L.A. with a pop culture imagination and an over-‐active eye for women. When the woman he lives with (Katheryn Winnick) finds a drawer full of explicit pictures she splits, leaving him to whine to his analyst, his accountant (Murray), best friend (Schwartzman) and sister (Patricia Arquette). Everything he imagines we see, including a “secret society of ball busters,” a western sequence with Bill Murray as John Wayne and himself in a duet crooning an Antonio Carlos Jobim song in Portuguese. There are funny bits. The problem is, they stay that way: bits. (The Rio Theatre starting Monday Feb.18) 2 out of 5. NOTE: All images are movie stills provided by the studios. They are the exclusive property of their copyright owners.
http://www.vancouvermovies.ca/movie/british-‐columbia/vancouver/rio-‐on-‐broadway/a-‐ glimpse-‐inside-‐the-‐mind-‐of-‐charles-‐swan-‐iii/34752/
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Synopsis When his beautiful girlfriend Ivana breaks up with him, Charles Swan III (Charlie Sheen), a wealthy, successful graphic designer, slides into into a downward spiral of doubt, confusion and reflection. With the help of his friends Kirby (Jason Schwartzman) and Saul (Bill Murray), as well as his sister, Izzy (Patricia Arquette), he begins to evaluate why he is taking the break up so hard.
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Synopsis When his beautiful girlfriend Ivana breaks up with him, Charles Swan III (Charlie Sheen), a wealthy, successful graphic designer, slides into into a downward spiral of doubt, confusion and reflection. With the help of his friends Kirby (Jason Schwartzman) and Saul (Bill Murray), as well as his sister, Izzy (Patricia Arquette), he begins to evaluate why he is taking the break up so hard.
http://www.straight.com/movies/353271/charlie-‐sheen-‐sparkles-‐playboy-‐inspired-‐glimpse-‐ inside-‐mind-‐charles-‐swan-‐iii
The Straight was pretty unkind to Charlie Sheen when he came through Vancouver on his Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option tour back in 2011. And the Straight would like to apologize for calling him a “barely articulate blockhead”. Because Charlie Sheen is fantastic in the movie A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III.
“I knew that he’s a great actor,” says writer-‐director Roman Coppola, calling from his home in San Francisco, “and when you’re a talented actor it just doesn’t go away.” No, it doesn’t. And trouble, mercifully, is often temporary. When Coppola first approached him with the part, Sheen hadn’t quite gone on his tiger-‐blood, tabloid-‐cover binge yet. But his old friend—the two first met when their fathers worked together on Apocalypse Now—waited for the ensuing storm to pass. “There was a process of about a year-‐and-‐a-‐half where I was trying to pin him down,” Coppola continues. “And I kept sticking with it, saying, ‘Hey, we gotta do this thing together!’ And to be very honest, financiers were not excited about Charlie Sheen. The movie did not carry insurance, it did not carry a completion bond, because people were uncomfortable with his profile. But I knew him, and when he said, ‘I’ll do this movie,’ that’s all I needed to hear. And so he learned his lines, he was on time every day, he learned Spanish, he learned to dance, he just totally went for it.” Sheen really does speak Spanish and he dances (and sings—in Portuguese) very ably in the freewheeling and extremely stylish comedy-‐drama (opening Monday [February 18]), about a superstar graphic designer dealing not so ably with heartbreak in mid-‐ ‘70s Hollywood. But he’s at his very best in a climactic scene in which a confusion of emotions come tumbling out while he blubbers tenderly to his ex. You’re tempted to wonder what he’s channelling in such an honest performance. Equally, it might simply be the case that Charlie Sheen was inspired by the material. His first reaction to Coppola’s pitch is revealing. “Cool, sounds like All That Jazz,” he said, which happened to be precisely the film his director was thinking about when he conceived the project. “I was, like, ‘We’re in thick,’” Coppola recalls. “I love that movie. It’s set in the world of show biz, it has that pizzazz that I wanted to have my movie reflect, and I feel that—not to rag on other movies—but a lot of indie movies are kind of dour and sourpuss and gritty, and I wanted to make something that had a sort of sparkle. That was on my mind.” Charles Swan sparkles, all right, with its rococo period attended to in fetishistic detail, and its story told in an episodic structure that allows for some candy-‐coloured fantasy sequences—including a casually hilarious bit in which the louche pussyhound Swan receives an award from the “Academy of Sexy Women” for best line in bullshit (the director says it was inspired by a photo of Jack Nicholson receiving his best actor Oscar in 1976, “and he’s wearing the shades, and he just looks so cool...”).
Sheen’s costars are obviously enjoying themselves, too. Reuniting after Moonrise Kingdom (which Coppola cowrote), Bill Murray appears as Swan’s accountant, also in the midst of a relationship crisis, and Jason Schwartzman plays his best friend, a comedian who recalls a cross between Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce (from Bob Fosse’s biopic, Lenny, natch) and Kinky Friedman. Everybody seems to be grooving on the film’s overamped style, which Coppola traces back to a childhood obsession that’ll click with anyone who grew up in the hair pie and cocktail ’70s. “Some of the imagery,” he says, “like the western sequence and especially the sexy Indians, the Secret Society of Ballbusters, that’s all stuff that could have come from a Playboy magazine cartoon, so I cop to that. It’s definitely a point of reference. Being 10 years old at that time, you get your hands on a Playboy, you know—it’s a very rich world that’s portrayed in those pages.” A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III opens at the Rio Theatre on Monday (February 18). A Skype Q&A with writer-‐director Roman Coppola follows the 9:30 p.m. screening on Wednesday.