Mar.25 2009

Sean Penn, Jim Carrey & Benicio Del Toro Are The “Three Stooges”

Sean Penn is Larry, Jim Carrey is Curly, and Benicio Del Toro is Moe. The legendary slapstick comedy trio is coming to the big screen in Three Stooges, to be released sometime in 2010. Penn has been rumored to be involved for months now and Johnny Depp’s name was even thrown in the ring as a contender. The Penn casting was expected, so the Jim Carrey/Benicio inclusion is rather news worthy. Now let’s take a look at this from an ability perspective. They’re all brilliant actors in their own right. Penn is a two-time Oscar winner, Del Toro is a one-timer, and Carrey has been nominated, so obviously they have skill. Penn has played everything from the oblivious stoner Spicoli (Fast Times) to grieving father/ex-con (Mystic River); dude’s got skills. Del Toro has definitely played some eccentric characters with meticulous and bizarre personalities (see Fear and Loathing), but we haven’t really seen him in pure-wacky mode for comedic sake. Then there’s Carrey, who should have no problem due to a career of of-the-wall, goofy character creations.

The thing that makes this movie so intriguing is that it’s going to be a Farrelly Brothers movie. If you didn’t know, the Farrelly Brothers (Peter & Bobby), are the writing and directing comedic tag-team behind such classics as Dumb & Dumber & There’s Something About Mary. They know what makes people laugh. And this film isn’t going to be a biopic about the life and times of the Three Stooges, rather it’ll be a contemporary comedy that incorporates those three crazy characters. Needless to say, it’s going to definitely be interesting to see how they approach this.

What do you think? Discuss.

Categories : News

matt damon

Obviously all three of these guys have wicked good acting skills, but I think its going to be very difficult for them to perform a successful adaptation of the stooges. I know the stooges are bit old for our generation but I watched them all the time as a kid and don’t think anyone can remake the hilarious atmosphere that the original actors created back in the 20′s. The only thing that they have going for them is that the stooges are so old that not many people have seen their original stuff, which for the most part is just 15 min skits. If they can do a good job of re-creating the stooges in modern cinema they may be able to win over the younger portions of movie goers, but for those who know the stooges will be a bit disappointed. And people who live in single apartments suck.
http://www.twitter.com/barrettgoetz Rabs

Interesting points Matt Damon. I must admit that I am not well-versed in the ways of The Stooges. I’ve seen a little bit of their stuff, but that’s when I was way little and I don’t really remember. Most of the stuff that I know about them is from random occurrences in varying pop-culture outlets. But, based on your analysis, I would most likely come out of the theater with a higher percentage chance of liking it, due to lack of reference & basis for comparison. Well done sir. Oh, and kids camps from Boston are played out.
Moosh

Damon may be right. The stooges were such the play back in the day. The way those three fed off each other, you could tell that these guys had been friends for years. Having said this, i think if anyone can pull this off, those three guys could. Del torro as moe: brilliant. Del torros proved he can deliver one liners (Fear and Loathing) and seems mild mannered and serious enough to pull of the money-minded, leader of the gang. Penn: I can alread see the frazzled half jew fro and the bald cap. He will look exactly like Larry. Also, Larry always was the guy jokes were played on and always seemed a victim. Lastly the Pet detective himself: Curly as the “everybody look at me” slap-stick guy. Nuff said. Perfect. I’m just curious to see how much weight he puts on for the role. Bean Town Blows, PR agencies are for chachs’…
Matt Damon

I see your points moosh. Amateur description of the characters at best, but as someone who has seen the stooges in action an absurd amount of times I don’t see any of the actors taking on their roles that well. I agree that it is a pretty good line up, and on paper it may look like an epic flick. But I think there’s a still a great deal of risk with this particular film. Along with the performances of the power trio, the storyline will make or break this movie. The original stooges were 15 min skits revolving around a pretty dumb plot line, filled with the most basic and simplistic types of slap-stick humor there is. I’m very interested to see how the Farrelly brothers are going to adapt that to today’s cinema and potentially recreate the stooges humor all together.
http://themoviemash.com/2009/06/some-quick-tidbits-4/ Some Quick Tidbits | THE MOVIE MASH

[...] of my earliest posts discussed the casting of Penn as Larry in the Farrelly Bros.’ upcoming Three Stooges movie, [...]