Has Sean Penn Told A Joke in The Last 20 Years?

Sean Penn has been cast in The Three Stooges. This would be great news if Sean Penn was funny.

But Sean Penn is not. Sean Penn is the most serious person in the world.

Now all you naysayers will likely ignore that he's the most serious person in the world, and point out that he's Spicoli, the precocious surfer from Fast Time at Ridgemont High. I'll admit, Spicoli's hilarious. But I think he's been a little over-hyped in all of our minds. Part of the fun of watching Spicoli is watching the most serious person in the world play a stoner. Plus, that character would've been funny if anyone played it. Sean Penn saying "Learning about Cuba and having some pizza" didn't make that line funny. Pizza did. And Cuba helped.

If the most serious person in the world delivered that line, it would've been "Human rights in Cuba can not be ignored. I think this pizza has cancer. I want to say 'thank you' to everyone but my wife."

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Sean Penn isn't even the funniest actor in that movie. You know who makes me laugh more? Judge Reinhold. And that guy who plays Mike Dimone. When the Farrelly's cast Judge and Dimone as the other two stooges, that's when I'll get excited. "If you really want to smack Curly with a frying pan, you'll play side 1 of Led Zeppelin IV."

Sean Penn is a great actor. Perhaps he can pull this off. But I'd rather see him stick to what he's good at: saving Katrina victims and crying in Clint Eastwood movies. You know, really depressing things that make me sad when I think about them.

Maybe Sean Penn's plan is to encompass every type of pain a human can experience. We all know that drama can hurt, but comedy can literally crush your soul. He must know that there's a banana peel waiting to take him down and break his tailbone. That's real pain right there. That's range.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more the I'm looking forward to the most serious person in the world getting smacked in the face. That's seriously funny. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

Comments

[Diane Tucker - Huffpost Blogger]

Did you see Penn's cameo performance on the sitcom "Two And A Half Men"? He TRIED to be funny. That's all I'm sayin'...

[XCITIZEN]

There is nothing and no-one LESS FUNNY than Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey is just scary and demoralizing and bad.

Sean Penn is beautiful and complex and fascinating.

LEAVE SEAN ALONE!

[americancolonyinhell]

Dude, I totally agree with the subtext: Penn is the biggest bore in American popular culture. Plus, he's about as articulate as Dustin Hoffman--in Rain Man!

[rbarthjr]

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/85568/april-19-2007/meta-free-phor-all--shall-i-nail-thee-to-a-summer-s-day-

[RevBookburn]

Sean Penn proved repeatedly that he handle any role. He is one of the greatest actors in modern history, including when his character prompts comedy. His recent performance in Milk was incredible. There was once talk about him starring in a bio film about the late folk singer Phil Ochs. I can't imagine anyone being better suited for the part. Now I think Sean is going to excel as one of the Stooges. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta

[rainbowrecruiter]

He's going to prove this guy wrong.

[MikeDu]

Abramson seems to be working off a false premise. Since when has a biopic ever been 'funny'? Biopics tend to follow that formula savagely lampooned in "Walk Hard", most often a self-consciously fawning costume melodrama depicting the tortured genius. Its a good bet a 3 stooges biopic will have more unintentional laughs than intentional ones.

[aftershock]

Walk Hard was awesome btw. Lol.

[kevingiampa]

I thought he was hilarious in All the King's Men.

That film made me wonder, aren't there any actors who actually have southern accents? Jude Law? Anthony Hopkins? Kate Winslet? What, was is set in the South--of London? (wait for applause). But seriously, wait, wait, one more. James Gandolfini? (...the South--Bronx). But seriously, no, this time, really, I laughed every time Sean Penn, or anyone else, was on screen. It was quite a ballsy and comedic adaptation.

You are way off.

[ChelleWeTalk]

**Part of the fun of watching Spicoli is watching the most serious person in the world play a stoner. **

You're right -- even though I had no idea who he was when I first saw Fast Times, I somehow sensed his underlying gravitas. Really.

[John Wellington Ennis - Huffpost Blogger]

He was funny in Oliver Stone's dark "U-Turn"

But when did Larry ever crack a joke, anyway? He was always looked irritated, like Sean Penn.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

It's called ACTING for a reason.

[davidmnc76]

Penn was funny in that Woody Allen movie about the musician.

I just don't know about a Three Stooges flick. The Farrelly brothers are the ones we should be worried about. When was the last time they actually made a FUNNY movie!?

[JonG345]

Sweet and Lowdown was the name of that amazing Woody Allen flick - Penn was great in that.

[David Durham]

Perhaps Sean Penn's seeming lack of a sense of humor is due to the fact that he's been 'fighting the good fight' during the Bush era and that means he's been taking punches. Sometimes very public ones. And punches hurt. I suspect that in private he's able to take things in stride and laugh about them. When facing an often hostile media, and the right-wing media is pathological in it's hostility, he feels he must take things very seriously. There's certainly an argument for that position. The Bush Administration wreaked havoc on basic human decency and so many people were blind to it. That's serious. And he cared. He cared very deeply. Maybe he feels he can loosen up a bit now, that his fight has opened some eyes. Mr. Penn has shown he can take a punch, what better skill for Larry of The Three Stooges.

[Dolmance]

For Sean Penn, there hasn't been anything to laugh about in 25 years. Now with an Obama administration, he'll be doing slapstick almost exclusively.

[seatech1]

Nah, he'll be too tired from laughing his ass off every time Bush opened his mouth and attempted to be coherent.

[LiamR]

Why in the world would anyone do a remake of The Three Stooges? You can watch the reruns, or watch funnier and more sophisticated humor in some (the operative word being "some") more contemporary movies. But to remake something that wasn't all that funny to begin with...are producers that desperate to save on scriptwriters' fees?

[jrb35]

They're not remaking a bunch of 8 minute Three Stooges shorts... They're making a film ABOUT the Stooges, i.e. a biopic. That's new. Well, there was that sub-par made for TV movie about them...