Aka Charlie Sheen (docu-series) : Definitely watch this

As someone that was alive during the entirety of this man's career perhaps I have more reason to watch and enjoy this 2-part documentary on Netflix. I don't think it is necessary that you understand Sheen's great fame over the years to get why his story is a such a good one.

He is from basically movie royalty and if you are a Sheen and you want to be in films and/or TV-shows, you get to be in those things and that is basically it. Unlike Tom Hanks' and Will Smith's talentless kids though, Charlie and his brother Emilio are actually quite talented.

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Even if you are not familiar with Charlie's body of work, you are probably aware of his rather public meltdown and admission of being heavily addicted to drugs. The "Winning!" and "Tiger Blood" portion of his life are particularly cringe-worthy, yet the world just kind of loved him for it anyway. There was and is something just undeniably charismatic about this guy and you can see all of this in the documentary that is now on Netflix.

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I would say that Charlie looks pretty darn good considering his age and the fact that he has basically been kicking his own ass with drugs and alcohol for the past 40 years. He is now 8 years (it might be 9) sober, and when he reflects on his life he doesn't try to conceal anything in this very raw documentary where he basically tells all, including and especially the stuff that I think most people would keep secret by any means necessary.

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I learned quite a lot when I was watching this such as forgetting that he was married to Denise Richards back when she was considered the most beautiful actress in the world. She has weathered a bit since then but it was nice of her to contribute to this documentary even though her and Charlie had a rather wild and public breakup and later divorce.

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Sheen comes across as a pretty alright dude, and I am sure that he is being a lot nicer for the sake of this doco than he actually was in real life, but still, he won't hold back when talking trash about himself and how much of a mess he was at certain times in his life.

I do want to point out one thing though and that is the moments when his co-star from Two and a Half Men, Jon Cryer. I never watched the show but it was a huge hit and Cryer is likely someone we never would have heard of had it not been for this show. He comes across as sanctimonious and holier than thou when he is talking about Sheen, and doesn't seem to have a level of gratitude that he should have when talking about Charlie. I find it rather disgusting actually because Jon Cryer would have been a footnote in uneventful roles in uneventful films and series had it not been for Charlie Sheen being on that show with him. All you have to do is look at how well it went once Charlie was axed from the cast and replaced by Ashton Kutcher.

Cryer made a ton of money making this show and I think it is very safe to say that the show would not have done well at all had it not been for Charlie Sheen being part of it for 8 years. Go cry somewhere else Cryer, you ungrateful snob.

Should I watch it ?

I think that you absolutely should. Sheen and his family are a huge part of film and TV over the past 50 years and it is really rewarding to look into what it was like to be him. Most of the people that contribute to the documentary do so in a wonderful way, and it is clear that Charlie has touched the lives of many people.

I stayed entertained through both episodes to the point where if I got up to go to the bathroom or to get a drink or something, I paused it and let me tell you, it is extremely rare that I bother to do that with almost anything. That is a sign that I am watching something that is extraordinary, and I believe that to be the case with this wonderful documentary.

_{the only way to legally watch this is via a standard Netflix subscription. I don't know if it is legal or not, but the entire first episode is currently on YouTube. Check it out if you want!}