APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) Sheen shines

I first discovered Martin Sheen on TV in the early ‘60s in an unsettling episode of The Outer Limits ("Nightmare"). He returned to TV in "The West Wing" which, like Da (reviewed elsewhere on this page), beautifully showcases his marvelous talent. No less so does APOCALYPSE NOW. Billions of words have been written about Coppola's war epic, so I'll add only that in the company of so many great actors – Brando, Duvall, Hopper – Sheen as Captain Willard is superb as the narrator and principal point of view. When he’s on-camera, which is almost always, it’s hard to take your eyes off him. From the opening scenes in his hotel room when he goes temporarily psycho - it's mostly improvised - to the ending ones when he goes after Kurtz with vengeance and a knife in his teeth, Sheen shines. (Trivia note: Lest you doubt the intensity of Sheen’s performance, he sliced open his hand filming the psycho scene (Sheen kept acting and Coppola kept the camera running, and suffered a major heart attack during production.)