Y’know, one thing that I think is easy to forget, due to all of the controversy and personal scandals, is that Sheen is actually a pretty darn good actor. I’ve made the observation before that, if he’d made a few better decisions in choosing his roles (& controlling his personal life, of course) I could easily see him having the same kind of movie career that Tom Cruise has had, where he would now be an A-List movie star. Many of his earlier dramatic films are some of my favorites.

WALL STREET is in my top 10, and his performance was perfect. The story of Bud Fox from naive optimist to ruthless businessman to betrayed protege was compelling, and Sheen made you care what happened to the character. I also love YOUNG GUNS, EIGHT MEN OUT, and NAVY SEALS (no, I never saw Platoon). And he proved to be rather adept at comedy, with his roles in the HOT SHOTS and SCARY MOVIE franchises, which was, of course, put on display later with his TV roles on SPIN CITY and TWO AND HALF MEN. So I’m really hoping he can pull his life together and get his career back on track.

I saw recently that his new upcoming sitcom based on the Adam Sandler/Jack Nicholson film ANGER MANAGEMENT has been optioned by F/X. Good for him. I liked that film, and I think it could be an interesting premise for a sitcom. Hopefully they’ll get a good cast to round it out. I wonder if Sheen will play crazy psychiatrist, or the patient that is forced to live with him? Either way, I’m sure he’ll do a good job.

Speaking of Two And A Half Men, I’ve tried watching the new season, but it just isn’t working. I thought the first episode with Ashton Kutcher was pretty good, but it’s just gone downhill since then. I may try watching one more episode tonight, but unless it’s much better I think I’ll stick to catching the syndicated re-runs.