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[](https://stephensilver.substack.com/) # [The SS Ben Hecht, by Stephen Silver](https://stephensilver.substack.com/) Subscribe Sign in # ‘AKA Charlie Sheen’ is the year’s ickiest documentary ### The A-list actor-turned-out-of-control embarrassment attempts a redemption narrative, with very limited success, in a new two-part Netflix documentary. [](https://substack.com/@stephensilver) [Stephen Silver](https://substack.com/@stephensilver) Sep 11, 2025 8 12 3 Share [](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2ULA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98084886-1bb2-456a-9c61-1a1c74ae4934_3840x2160.png) Image: Netflix Here’s the biggest question about Netflix’s new two-part, 180-minute documentary *AKA Charlie Sheen*, in which the now 60-year-old actor gives extensive interviews detailing the many controversies of his public career: Can you stomach spending three hours with this guy? Directed by Andrew Renzi, the documentary kind of wants to have it both ways when it comes to looking wistfully back at the crazy times, while also acknowledging that Sheen did some horrifically bad things and hurt an awful lot of people. Now sober for seven years, Sheen sat for the documentary interviews and also has a new memoir coming out. Is this a “separate the art from the artist” moment? Maybe, but it’s worth asking whether giving Sheen the floor in this manner is even responsible. An edit of the film, minus Sheen’s interviews, could easily run on Lifetime and be titled *Surviving Charlie Sheen.* There are some good stories told, especially about his movies. But I probably got through the three hours with less sympathy for Charlie Sheen than I had when I started. There are also some truly odd choices, such as juxtaposing Sheen telling a story about a woman giving him oral sex while he smoked crack, with home movies of him as a child. The film also illustrates parts of Sheen’s life story with clips from his movies, which the Michael J. Fox doc did a bit more consistently and effectively (and Sheen, ironically, replaced Fox on *Spin City*). The son of Martin Sheen and brother of Emilio Estevez, Sheen grew up in Hollywood royalty, actually spending some time with his father in the Philippines on the set of *Apocalypse Now*, one of the most notoriously chaotic movie shoots in history. While his brother got famous before he did, Charlie Sheen was an A-list movie star for a relatively brief period in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. During that run, Sheen starred in some truly significant movies, like *Platoon, Wall Street, Major League*, and his memorable cameo in *Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.* His involvement in the Heidi Fleiss prostitution scandal was the first of several falls from grace, although Sheen had a successful second act as a sitcom star, on *Spin City* and later on *Two and a Half Men,* which was the highest-rated sitcom on television for a pretty long period in the aughts. (Sheen’s post-*Men* sitcom, *Anger Management,* isn’t mentioned, despite airing 100 episodes.) Sheen, as you probably knew, was in active addiction for much of that time, and a period when it got particularly out of control led to his firing from *Two and a Half Men.* This was followed by his infamous “Torpedo of Truth” tour, his association with Alex Jones, and his occasional dabbling in conspiratorial antisemitism. Following his reveal of an HIV diagnosis about a decade ago, and some truly horrible accusations of various varieties, Sheen has mostly been out of the public eye in recent years, his acting career essentially kaput. I was surprised when the recent Billy Joel documentary got all four of Joel’s wives to participate, and the Sheen doc secured the participation of several of his former wives and girlfriends. And that doc did touch on Joel’s alcoholism and how it hurt those around him. But in this case, it’s a lot darker- you can tell Sheen hurt these women, deeply, in all sorts of ways. Denise Richards, in particular, seems especially wounded. We see Donald Trump, in old footage, imploring one of the women not to marry Sheen. Leave it to The Donald to be the voice of reason for once. Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez are not interviewed in the film, but Heidi Fleiss is. The “Hollywood Madam” and Sheen associate is interviewed in front of a large bird sanctuary and within 30 seconds of appearing, she makes it clear that her crimes weren’t anything like Ghislaine Maxwell’s Like multiple characters in another Netflix doc, *Tiger King*, Sheen says “I didn’t want to be a rat, but…” before admitting that he, in fact, rolled over on Fleiss in court. And then there’s Sean Penn, Sheen’s childhood friend, sitting at a table, chain-smoking, and acting like the world’s worst character witness. And while it’s a wonder that Sheen is even alive, Penn might actually look the worse of the two of them. Jon Cryer, Sheen’s *Men* co-star, is probably the documentary’s leading voice of conscience, pointing out that Sheen’s antics screwed over his co-stars and co-workers, and CBS did some pretty awful things to enable him at his worst moments. Cryer also points to a pattern in Sheen’s life that he frequently has redemption arcs where he gets his act together, but those periods don’t always tend to last. The filmmaker was probably making a very conscious choice by putting this statement at the very beginning, and letting us know what an unreliable narrator Sheen is. In the last 20 minutes, Sheen addresses a few things he’d been reluctant to bring up before: The HIV diagnosis, Corey Feldman’s accusation that Sheen once sexually abused Corey Haim – a bit of [perennial Crazy Days and Nights lore](https://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2010/11/charlie-sheen-is-still-ass.html?m=0&hl=en) which he strongly denies — as well as Sheen’s first-time admission that he sometimes had sex with men while on drugs. This seems to be a harder thing for Sheen to talk about than admitting that he ran roughshod over everyone in his life, including his ex-wives and children, for the better part of 40 years. What’s the takeaway here? Don’t do drugs, I guess? Don’t pay for sex workers with a traveler’s check? A couple of years ago, Pamela Anderson also had the one-two punch of a memoir and a Netflix documentary, and it led to an unlikely acting comeback. It’s very possible that Sheen participated in this project with the same thing in mind, although I don’t particularly like his chances. *** #### Subscribe to The SS Ben Hecht, by Stephen Silver By Stephen Silver · Launched 3 years ago A daily newsletter about movies and film culture, by journalist, critic, and essayist Stephen Silver By subscribing, you agree Substack's [Terms of Use](https://substack.com/tos), and acknowledge its [Information Collection Notice](https://substack.com/ccpa#personal-data-collected) and [Privacy Policy](https://substack.com/privacy). [](https://substack.com/profile/188220432-jf) [](https://substack.com/profile/7603578-philip-portelance) [](https://substack.com/profile/14152622-alex-m-stein) [](https://substack.com/profile/328550-dan-epstein) [](https://substack.com/profile/123988908-decarceration) [8 Likes]()∙ [3 Restacks](https://substack.com/note/p-173349316/restacks?utm_source=substack&utm_content=facepile-restacks) 8 12 3 Share Previous Next #### Discussion about this post Comments Restacks [](https://substack.com/profile/19368085-ashley-holt?utm_source=comment) [Ashley Holt](https://substack.com/profile/19368085-ashley-holt?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [Sep 13](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/aka-charlie-sheen-is-the-years-ickiest/comment/155670525 "Sep 13, 2025, 9:02 PM") I hate myself for watching it, I hate Netflix for tempting me with it, I hate the American entertainment industry for rewarding this self-absorbed turd with endless cash, and I hate the tabloid culture that is still, in the form of this revolting documentary, celebrating society's human garbage. I really enjoyed it. [Like (2)]() [Reply]() [Share]() [1 reply](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/aka-charlie-sheen-is-the-years-ickiest/comment/155670525) [](https://substack.com/profile/4007254-bill-weigel?utm_source=comment) [Bill Weigel](https://substack.com/profile/4007254-bill-weigel?utm_source=substack-feed-item) [Sep 11](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/aka-charlie-sheen-is-the-years-ickiest/comment/154800593 "Sep 11, 2025, 2:10 PM") I loved you in Wall Street\! [Like (1)]() [Reply]() [Share]() [1 reply](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/aka-charlie-sheen-is-the-years-ickiest/comment/154800593) [10 more comments...](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/aka-charlie-sheen-is-the-years-ickiest/comments) Top Latest Discussions ['The Fall of Minneapolis' is Orwellian nonsense](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/the-fall-of-minneapolis-is-orwellian) [Derek Chauvin, the right’s favorite murderer, finally gets his say in this poorly made, even more poorly argued documentary](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/the-fall-of-minneapolis-is-orwellian) Nov 27, 2023 • [Stephen Silver](https://substack.com/@stephensilver) 20 63 3  [The 20 best documentary features of 2025](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/the-20-best-documentary-features) [Movies about Israel/Palestine, Ukraine, Pee-Wee Herman, a crime story in Florida and Thomas Kinkade](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/the-20-best-documentary-features) Dec 18, 2025 • [Stephen Silver](https://substack.com/@stephensilver) 14 2 1  ['Eyes Wide Shut,' a sex movie with a strange relationship to sex, turns 25](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/eyes-wide-shut-a-sex-movie-with-a) [Stanley Kubrick’s final film, released in 1999, was hyped as one of the most sexually explicit Hollywood movies ever made, but the reality was very…](https://stephensilver.substack.com/p/eyes-wide-shut-a-sex-movie-with-a) Jul 16, 2024 • [Stephen Silver](https://substack.com/@stephensilver) 1  See all ### Ready for more? © 2026 Stephen Silver · [Privacy](https://substack.com/privacy) ∙ [Terms](https://substack.com/tos) ∙ [Collection notice](https://substack.com/ccpa#personal-data-collected) [Start your Substack](https://substack.com/signup?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_content=footer) [Get the app](https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&utm_content=web-footer-button) [Substack](https://substack.com/) is the home for great culture This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. 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[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2ULA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98084886-1bb2-456a-9c61-1a1c74ae4934_3840x2160.png) Image: Netflix Here’s the biggest question about Netflix’s new two-part, 180-minute documentary *AKA Charlie Sheen*, in which the now 60-year-old actor gives extensive interviews detailing the many controversies of his public career: Can you stomach spending three hours with this guy? Directed by Andrew Renzi, the documentary kind of wants to have it both ways when it comes to looking wistfully back at the crazy times, while also acknowledging that Sheen did some horrifically bad things and hurt an awful lot of people. Now sober for seven years, Sheen sat for the documentary interviews and also has a new memoir coming out. Is this a “separate the art from the artist” moment? Maybe, but it’s worth asking whether giving Sheen the floor in this manner is even responsible. An edit of the film, minus Sheen’s interviews, could easily run on Lifetime and be titled *Surviving Charlie Sheen.* There are some good stories told, especially about his movies. But I probably got through the three hours with less sympathy for Charlie Sheen than I had when I started. There are also some truly odd choices, such as juxtaposing Sheen telling a story about a woman giving him oral sex while he smoked crack, with home movies of him as a child. The film also illustrates parts of Sheen’s life story with clips from his movies, which the Michael J. Fox doc did a bit more consistently and effectively (and Sheen, ironically, replaced Fox on *Spin City*). The son of Martin Sheen and brother of Emilio Estevez, Sheen grew up in Hollywood royalty, actually spending some time with his father in the Philippines on the set of *Apocalypse Now*, one of the most notoriously chaotic movie shoots in history. While his brother got famous before he did, Charlie Sheen was an A-list movie star for a relatively brief period in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. During that run, Sheen starred in some truly significant movies, like *Platoon, Wall Street, Major League*, and his memorable cameo in *Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.* His involvement in the Heidi Fleiss prostitution scandal was the first of several falls from grace, although Sheen had a successful second act as a sitcom star, on *Spin City* and later on *Two and a Half Men,* which was the highest-rated sitcom on television for a pretty long period in the aughts. (Sheen’s post-*Men* sitcom, *Anger Management,* isn’t mentioned, despite airing 100 episodes.) Sheen, as you probably knew, was in active addiction for much of that time, and a period when it got particularly out of control led to his firing from *Two and a Half Men.* This was followed by his infamous “Torpedo of Truth” tour, his association with Alex Jones, and his occasional dabbling in conspiratorial antisemitism. Following his reveal of an HIV diagnosis about a decade ago, and some truly horrible accusations of various varieties, Sheen has mostly been out of the public eye in recent years, his acting career essentially kaput. I was surprised when the recent Billy Joel documentary got all four of Joel’s wives to participate, and the Sheen doc secured the participation of several of his former wives and girlfriends. And that doc did touch on Joel’s alcoholism and how it hurt those around him. But in this case, it’s a lot darker- you can tell Sheen hurt these women, deeply, in all sorts of ways. Denise Richards, in particular, seems especially wounded. We see Donald Trump, in old footage, imploring one of the women not to marry Sheen. Leave it to The Donald to be the voice of reason for once. Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez are not interviewed in the film, but Heidi Fleiss is. The “Hollywood Madam” and Sheen associate is interviewed in front of a large bird sanctuary and within 30 seconds of appearing, she makes it clear that her crimes weren’t anything like Ghislaine Maxwell’s Like multiple characters in another Netflix doc, *Tiger King*, Sheen says “I didn’t want to be a rat, but…” before admitting that he, in fact, rolled over on Fleiss in court. And then there’s Sean Penn, Sheen’s childhood friend, sitting at a table, chain-smoking, and acting like the world’s worst character witness. And while it’s a wonder that Sheen is even alive, Penn might actually look the worse of the two of them. Jon Cryer, Sheen’s *Men* co-star, is probably the documentary’s leading voice of conscience, pointing out that Sheen’s antics screwed over his co-stars and co-workers, and CBS did some pretty awful things to enable him at his worst moments. Cryer also points to a pattern in Sheen’s life that he frequently has redemption arcs where he gets his act together, but those periods don’t always tend to last. The filmmaker was probably making a very conscious choice by putting this statement at the very beginning, and letting us know what an unreliable narrator Sheen is. In the last 20 minutes, Sheen addresses a few things he’d been reluctant to bring up before: The HIV diagnosis, Corey Feldman’s accusation that Sheen once sexually abused Corey Haim – a bit of [perennial Crazy Days and Nights lore](https://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2010/11/charlie-sheen-is-still-ass.html?m=0&hl=en) which he strongly denies — as well as Sheen’s first-time admission that he sometimes had sex with men while on drugs. This seems to be a harder thing for Sheen to talk about than admitting that he ran roughshod over everyone in his life, including his ex-wives and children, for the better part of 40 years. What’s the takeaway here? Don’t do drugs, I guess? Don’t pay for sex workers with a traveler’s check? A couple of years ago, Pamela Anderson also had the one-two punch of a memoir and a Netflix documentary, and it led to an unlikely acting comeback. It’s very possible that Sheen participated in this project with the same thing in mind, although I don’t particularly like his chances.