This is an impossible review to write because this movie is just so weird. So weird in fact that I can't really compare it to anything. The closest thing that I can compare it to are Wes Anderson movies and that's because the director of this happens to be Roman Coppola, who is a frequent collaborator with Anderson. And I think that being around him for so long has rubbed off on Coppola in a great way. He takes everything that makes a Wes Anderson film so good like the whimsical nature and the quirky characters and creates his own wild ride.
The cast is quite good and filled with big names and even included two more Wes Anderson collaborators. Charlie Sheen plays the the man, the myth, and the legend Charles Swan. He leads the perfect life. He has a good job as a graphic designer and he has a great girlfriend named Ivana. His life comes crashing down, however, when Ivana finds out that he used to be a whore mongering booze hound. She breaks up with him and he can't handle it, which results in a health scare and he thinks he's on the verge of death. And thus begins this weird journey. Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray pop up at different times throughout and their scenes are so strange that I can't even explain them. They are funny though. Several scenes like that peppered throughout the movie are just weird and out there and surreal that all you can do is laugh. Patricia Arquette plays Charlie's sister and they share a couple of the movies more normal restrained scenes together. Aubrey Plaza and Mary Elizabeth Winstead show up too in very small roles and don't really do anything that memorable.
This is my worst review by far and that's OK with me. Like I said in the beginning...this is just an impossible review to write just because of sheer nature of this movie. The review isn't anything more than a rambling mess and it does nothing to really tell you about the movie or to really sell you on it. And to be honest there really isn't anything that can sell you on it...you just have to see it.
It's weird and quirky, but god damn did I like it. Charlie Sheen is perfectly cast as Charles Swan. When you see the movie you'll know why. A lot of weird things happen without much explanation, but I'm guessing its all part of the wildness that is Swan's mind. Sooo funny. Sheen, Schwartzman, & Murray are classic. This is definitely a movie that's gonna have a cult following and isn't gonna make a dime at the box- office. I guarantee I'm one of the only people that praise it because it just so weird. It's like Wes Anderson lite meets The Brothers Bloom. Fantastic. I can tell you to see it just to decide for yourself, but keep a very open mind, give it time to sink in and maybe, just maybe it will surprise you.
