I always appreciated the beautiful and talented actors that age gracefully, and even the old age gives them a sexy and stately air, making them more attractive than in youth, and the first place in my top is Sean Penn.
10. The Interpreter
The Interpreter is a political thriller directed by Sydney Pollack that follows the intrigues and attempts to kill at the highest level. Filming was produced in the United Nations in New York, and Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn have an interesting chemistry in the roles of vulnerable women, and a skeptical FBI agent, but willing to protect.
09. In Fair Game
In Fair Game we are dealing with a new political conspiracy, this time inspired by reality. Naomi Watts is an undercover CIA agent and her husband Sean Penn is an important American diplomat who complains that the attack on Iraq is unjustified. That’s why I said the story is inspired by reality. To declare the war on Iraq, U.S. officials said that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction, unconfirmed hypothesis until today.
08. I Am Sam
I Am Sam presents the story of Sam Dawson (Sean Penn in the Oscar-nominated role), who has the mental capacity of a child of seven years, and the intense fighting which he carries in his life with disability. He works at Starbucks and has a great passion for Beatles. After a relationship with a homeless woman who later will leave him, is born a beautiful girl (Dakota Fanning) that Sam called Lucy Diamond (after the Beatles song) and is frantically struggling to grow her himself. But when Lucy reaches the age of seven years, Sam’s limitations start to become problematic at school, where Lucy refuses to advance to avoid becoming smarter than her father. Thus, it is taken by the authorities, and is denied from his parental rights.
Sean Penn and Bruce Willis are privileged to enjoy themselves while De Niro plays a desperate producer, whose film visionary difficulty than expected because a director of drugs and pressure from the studio. The situation seems so dark that even the presence of Sean Penn on the poster does not seem to guarantee a box-office success.
06. Dead Man Walking
Exploring sensitive issues such as capital punishment, religion, forgiveness and redemption, Dead Man Walking is a brutal psychological drama exceptionally played by Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Known for his inclination to interpret the raw figures, without morality, attracted by violence, Penn gives life to a very dangerous prisoner close to be executed for the rape and murder of two teenage girls.
Willie is a man of the people who are dedicated people – at least it says. But when idealism disappears in favor of brutal realities, corrupt politician discovers how powerful can fall, after ambition and power illusion betrays his original motivations. Sean Penn is one that shines in the role of a charismatic Southern politician memorable “Boss” Willie Stark.
04. 21 Grams
21 Grams refers to the weight of the soul that is lost in the moment of death. The film follows the stories of three people: Paul (Sean Penn), a sick and tormented man by remorse, Cristina (Naomi Watts), who loses her entire family in a terrible accident, and Jack (Benicio Del Toro), a violent man that is trying to get rid of alcohol addiction by turning to faith. Three lives intersect in a brutal way, showing interdependencies and cause and effect principles.
03. The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life offers wonderful images that give a burst of color evolution of the universe: the famous Big Bang, the first roar of a volcanic appearance and development of life. The film is a constant comparison between macro and micro universe, between the internal and external events that mark our lives, define us and dictate our future. Jack (Sean Penn) was raised in a family where his mother taught him to discover the artistic vision of life, while authoritarian father (Brad Pitt) has shown what means responsibility, maturity and respect.
02. Mystic River
After his daughter of 19 years is killed, the cop Jimmy (Sean Penn) goes in search of criminals, and among one of suspects there are also some friends from childhood. Penn’s character gradually transforms from a parent emotionally destroyed in a real thirst for revenge monster that lives under the impression that act on the spur of noble intentions. A difficult role, but played extremely well by Penn, which demonstrates once again the small line that separates right from wrong, moral from immoral.
01. Milk
We were accustomed by his politically charged films and his characters always in pain. But the role of Harvey Milk – the first gay elected politician in an American town council in 1977 – turned Sean Penn in an optimistic guy, serene, gentle, and totally different from any role played by then. Became an activist for gay rights, Harvey Milk was deadly shot by Dan White, who received a sentence far too lenient, leading the San Francisco gay community revolt.
