A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III (B+) - I went in with low expectations and emerged more than pleasantly surprised at this widely ignored but entertaining lark featuring Charlie Sheen as a 1970s playboy graphic artist having a midlife crisis. You've got to hand it to writer/director Roman Coppola: Like his pal Wes Anderson, he creates a quirky, intimate world and/or era and he commits fully to bringing it magically to life, pushing that ever-moving line between profound and absurd. Here, Charlie is reeling from a breakup, headed for a heart attack or nervous breakdown, and he's supported by Anderson regulars Jason Schwartzman (truly inspired and very funny in a classic '70s curly wig) and Bill Murray as his sad-sack accountant, both laying the shtick on thick. This has the whiff of a knockoff vanity project, but it works as an homage to the films of America's post-New Wave. The plot barely hangs together, but Sheen and crew somehow create an almost touching character study along the way toward a Capra-esque ending. Extra points for Aubrey Plaza in a bit part and the music of Liam Hayes, rekindling the era by channeling Andrew Gold. And, finally ...
- RICHARD EDSON ALERT! - The great character actor of our generation steals the show in his one scene as Sanchez, a technical expert who kits Charlie out with a bulky '70s-era surveillance device. It made the whole movie worth the risk of plunking down $5 for a matinee of a widely panned film. Put this on your Richard Edson list along with "Stranger Than Paradise," "Sunshine State," "Do the Right Thing" and "The Astronaut Farmer."
LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE (C+) - I was not a fan of "Certified Copy," the most recent film from Abbas Kiarostami. I thought the story of a couple wandering around Italy was itself meandering, not to mention confounding and, in the end, kind of pointless. His latest runs about the same speed, only it's three people and they're in Tokyo. I'm open to someone explaining the point of it all. I liked the sense of dread that built around an elderly professor who is hanging out with a morose, vacant young prostitute and her boyfriend. A lot of classic Kiarostami car scenes and a few neat camera tricks. But scenes of a character frequently wanting to sleep and of another changing a car's timing belt can make the audience itself doze off. The Iranian director is oh-for-two in the West.
A ROYAL AFFAIR (B-minus) - Pure soap opera. An epic period piece and a fine performance by Mads Mikkelsen as Struensee, the personal physician and puppet-master behind the simpleton King Christian of Denmark during the enlightenment era of the late 18th century. Struensee manipulates Christian and convinces him to enact sweeping reforms aimed at raising up the lower classes. Meantime, Struensee also steps in for childlike Christian in the bed chambers of the queen, Caroline (a lovely, understated Alicia Vikander). The Lords eventually rebel, the sex scandal is exposed, and the royals will be made to pay. Director Nikolaj Arcel does a workmanlike job moving things along, though the film feels the bloat of its 137 minutes. Great costumes, a social conscience and forbidden passion make for a sometimes compelling saga, but it all wears rather thin by the end, and the climax doesn't have the impact it should.
Bonus One-Liner
From "It's a Bikini World" (1967):
Guy: If I tried to kiss you would you cry for help?
Gal: Would you need help?
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