Sean Penn did not deserve the oscar - Milk (2009) Discussion

[–] anaconda89 13 years ago

Eastwood gave the performance of his life in Gran Torino and he wasn't even nominated.

You ahbe to remember Penn was playing a gay character, so the academy will award him for being brave to tackle the role.

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[–] xfastfurious15 13 years ago

i think sean penn deserves the Oscar he's won. he was a great actor in a great movie.

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[–] holydanny 13 years ago

Agreed, but there were a handful of great lead actor performances deserving of a win that year including Rourke, Eastwood, Frank Langella in Frost Nixon and my personal favourite Leonardo DiCaprio giving his best performance to date in Revolutionary Road.

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[–] CaliCurmudgeon 8 years ago

THIS. Frank Langella's imitation of Nixon's speaking, and his mannerisms, was spot-on.

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[–] SteveResin 13 years ago

Penn was superb imo and deserved his award. I completely forgot I was watching Penn and not the real Harvey during this film such was his amazing performance.

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The memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of a man in his prime

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[–] clytamnestra 12 years ago

this movie was made in 2008.
i don't know what time-machine you arrived in that you would think of playing a gay character as 'brave' and in itself oscar-worthy.
if anything 'hey everybody, look at me playing a gay person in a gay-phobic environment' has been waaay overdone. to the point that it is now a cheap oscar-bait trick, along the line of making a holocaust-movie.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] cassiopee 13 years ago

Completely agree with spbutters. Milk was one of the most overrated oscar movies i have ever seen. I was truly dissapointed by this film. Penn was good, but it was not oscar performance. I didn't found his role to be so dificult to play.

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[–] sergibenidorm 13 years ago

Then it wasn´t so difficult for Mickey Rourke his performance in "The wrestler" cause he was a boxer in his youth....

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[–] RaxR1991 13 years ago

Sounds like you called Sean Penn ex-gay.

My ratings: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur20655940/ratings

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[–] Paula57 13 years ago

It could be as simple as the fact that Harvey Milk was a real person. Penn had the responsibility to capture his speech and mannerisms. Hollywood loves its biopics. Colin Firth just won for The Kings Speech,and James Franco and Jesse Eisenberg were both nominated, all playing real men. Daniel Day Lewis, Russell Crowe, Morgan Freeman, Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Marion Cotillard, Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Forrest Whitaker, Denzel Washington, Helen Mirren, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, and Nicole Kidman have all been nominated or won Oscars for portraying real people. That's a long list, and I had to stop somewhere. There are a lot more.

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[–] Abbalish 13 years ago

I think Penn was awesome

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[–] Clearlylosingit 13 years ago

Shoulda been Rourke.

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[–] dotlineline 13 years ago

Rourke played himself. Lol.

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[–] mad_roke 13 years ago

well it is VERY hard to decide.
This oscar choice is in one line with "Howard DiCaprio Hughes" vs. "Ray Foxx Charles".
I am JUST now watching Milk for the very first time and I believe every second of Penn's performance, as I did with Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. All of the four movies I mentioned are in my opinion equal to one another and therefore it's no use bashing any of it. They are top notch.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] SausagePourVous 13 years ago

I agree and disagree. Think DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road was the years best. Brolin deserved a little more recognition,though comparing him to Ledger might be like comparing christmas to cocaine.

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[–] toddjacobucci2002 13 years ago

Im with some of you here, and against others. For my money, Penn was good, but not great. Ill take Rourke over Penn for the oscar. I'd also take Richard Jenkins in the Visitor over Penn. Just my two cents.

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[–] hernanmachopaul 13 years ago

I can't decide which one between Penn in this and Rourke in "The Wrestler" was better, but the Oscar should have gone to Rourke for the simple reason that in "The Wrestler" his was by far his best acting of his rather pitiful career, at least until that point, and may not happen again. Penn, on the other hand, has been in good movies and has had great roles in the past and will continue to do so in the future...

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[–] paynejeremy 13 years ago

I agree they were both great, but not with your reasoning as to why Rourke should've got it.
Just as well Javier Bardem didn't go up against them (for Actor) or he would've missed a well-deserved Oscar (for Supporting Actor).

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[–] Doc80 8 years ago

The Oscar isn't supposed to go to the actor with the best performance in his pitiful career, it goes to the best performance of the year. Rourke in The Wrestler was nothing special in particular. He was basically playing himself.

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[–] Revan646 13 years ago

Agree with the OP. Mickey Rourke should of won. Penn was good but Rourke was better.

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[–] tj19 13 years ago

Looking back at that year, there were a lot of strong male lead performances. Personally, I feel Rourke and Penn were so evenly matched, and that the voters thought Rourke was in a sense playing himself (washed up), while Penn was way out of his comfort zone. I think that is why Penn won. And Rourke made out pretty well after The Wrestler (Iron Man 2, The Expendables), so don't feel too bad he lost.

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[–] 13 years ago

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