What to watch: Is AKA Charlie Sheen a belated thank you?
Charlie Sheen doesn't seem like a great guy, but maybe this show is a belated thank you to those whose lives he mired during his destructive years of addiction.
We meet Charlie Sheen - now 60 years old and seven years sober - sitting in an American diner, sipping a cup of coffee and occasionally puffing on a vape.
The two-part Netflix documentary, AKA Charlie Sheen sees the actor reflect with film-maker Andrew Renzi on his rise to fame, his highly-publicised problems with alcohol, pills and crack cocaine, and his attempt to recover - broken into three parts “Partying”, “Partying with problems” and “Just problems”.
We are introduced to young Charlie Sheen, one of the five Estevez kids (you may know big brother Emilio from Mighty Ducks fame). The boys and their mates (including fellow actor Sean Penn) are inspired by the work of famous dad Martin Sheen (most recently star of TV series The West Wing). The teenagers muck around setting scenes and making home videos with lots of shooting, death and blood. (Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez don't participate in the documentary, but other brother Ramon chips in).
Footage of Charlie Sheen during the 90s.
Netflix
We move on to the Sheen of the mid 80s, who broke through with a thick head of hair and chiselled jawline in Vietnam war drama Platoon. An encounter with actor Nick Cage in the early 90s kicks off a slippery slope of drugs, sex, alcohol and bad behaviour.
Later, re-emerging from a stint in rehab, comes Sheen ready for his sitcom era, where he rises to be (and remains) the highest paid TV star sitting on US$3 million an episode for Two and a Half Men.
Sheen's decades of self-destruction have been well-documented previously, but the documentary is nicely stitched together, with Sheen family footage and big shot movie scenes woven into the narrative.
Starkly honest interviews are given by an emotional (and very tolerant) cast, including old mate Sean Penn, ex-wife Denise Richards (and third ex-wife Brooke Mueller) and Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer (who was earning a third of the money that a no-showing, intoxicated Sheen received for the sitcom).
Charlie Sheen's ex-wife Denise Richards. The pair have two daughters together.
Courtesy of Netflix
Sheen doesn't show remorse and you can't help but think how lucky he is to have this support crew around him (or feel pity for them as The Guardian reviewer puts it). AKA Charlie Sheen feels like a story that’s been told to lift a weight off the actor's shoulders, to clear the air, or maybe as a thanks to his ever-supportive family. You won't leave liking Charlie Sheen, but it's a hell of a story.
Don't watch it if... you feel triggered by scenes of excessive drug and alcohol abuse.
If you like aka Charlie Sheen, what should you watch next?
Two and a Half Men: See Charlie Sheen essentially cast in a role to play himself where he earns megabucks despite the destruction he starts to bring to set. (TVNZ+)
Fyre: The Greatest Festival that Never Happened: If you crave more real-life scenes of partying and cringey chaos. (Netflix)
Pamela, A Love Story: The delightful evolution from Baywatch babe to now, Anderson takes the viewer on an insightful and uplifting ride. Especially heartwarming for Gen X and geriatric millennials.
