Ukraine Needs a Lot of Things, but Sean Penn’s Drama Isn’t One of Them (Column)
11.04.2022 - 02:25
/ variety.com
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticIn a career that stretches back 40 years, Sean Penn has had many great roles, from Jeff Spicoli to Harvey Milk, from the surly teen sociopath of “Bad Boys” to the soulful death-row sociopath of “Dead Man Walking.” Yet there’s a role Penn is now playing that he has embraced with fierce commitment and skill, but it still doesn’t look very good on him. That’s the role of The American Civilian Who Cares About the War in Ukraine More Than You Do.You’ve seen him play the role at press conferences and in interviews with cable-TV news hosts.
Thatchy-haired and beleaguered, sitting there in his green CORE Army jacket brandishing his thousand-yard Method stare, his cigarette voice on the verge of cracking in literally every sentence, Penn, gripped with conviction, speaks in a deliberate, ever-so-slightly strangled monotone that makes it sound like he’s working hard to control everything he’s saying. Otherwise he might just bust a gasket of emotion, man! He’s a great actor, and the message is clear: Sean Penn knows the stakes.
He gets the gravitas, more than you and I put together. Penn, presenting his analysis of the Ukraine situation, lays out his case with a solemn awestruck once-more-unto-the-breach fervor, and it’s obvious, as you listen to him, that he knows a great deal.
He’s got the detail at his fingertips — about how many weeks of training it takes to fly an F-15, about Level 4 Body Armor, about how two squadrons at a cost of $300 million could “end this thing.” Penn was in Ukraine shooting a documentary about the country and its travails back in November, when the Russian invasion was just a gleam in Vladimir Putin’s eye. He was there, as well, during the first few days of fighting, but
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