Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. His accolades include three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for three British Academy Film Awards, an Emmy Award, and... Read full bio →
Featured Characters
Roles you can spot in Whatthemovie snapshots
One Battle After Another
Washed-up revolutionary Bob exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces after 16 years and she goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her, father and daughter both battling the consequences of his past.
Asphalt City
A young paramedic is paired with a seasoned partner on the night shift in New York revealing a city in crisis. Discovering the chaos firsthand, he is tested with the ethical ambiguity that can be the difference between life and death.
Licorice Pizza
The story of Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
Flag Day
A father lives a double life as a counterfeiter, bank robber and con man in order to provide for his daughter.
Angry Birds
An island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds or almost entirely. In this paradise, Red, a bird with a temper problem, speedy Chuck, and the volatile Bomb have always been outsiders. But when the island is visited by mysterious green piggies, it’s up to these unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to.
The Gunman
Eight years after fleeing the Congo following his assassination of that country's minister of mining, former assassin Jim Terrier is back, suffering from PTSD and digging wells to atone for his violent past. After an attempt is made on his life, Terrier flies to London to find out who wants him dead -- and why.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.
Gangster Squad
It's 1949 Los Angeles, the city is run by gangsters and a malicious mobster, Mickey Cohen. Determined to end the corruption, John O'Mara assembles a team of cops, ready to take down the ruthless leader and restore peace to the city.
Woody Allen: A Documentary
An intense portrait of the iconic filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician Woody Allen: his life, family and friends; his writing and directing habits, and his relationship with performers.
This Must Be the Place
A bored, retired rock star sets out to find his father's executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S.
The Tree of Life
The story centers around a family with three boys in the 1950s. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence.
I'm Still Here
Documents Joaquin Phoenix's transition from the acting world to a career as an aspiring rapper.
Fair Game
Plame's status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq
The People Speak
A look at America's struggles with war, class, race and women's rights. based on Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States."
What Just Happened
Two weeks in the life of a fading Hollywood producer who's having a rough time trying to get his new picture made.
Milk
The story of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone by San Francisco Supervisor Dan White
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
Spike Lee's award-winning documentary follows the events that preceded and followed Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic passage through New Orleans in 2005.
All the King's Men
The story of an idealist's rise to power in the world of Louisiana politics and the corruption that leads to his ultimate downfall. Based on the1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Robert Penn Warren.
The Interpreter
A thriller about an interpreter who has overheard an assassination attempt in the UK. An American Secret Service agent is sent to investigate as Silvia Broome, the interpreter, is in danger of being killed by the assassins.
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
It’s 1974 and Sam Bicke has lost everything. His wife leaves him with his three kids, his boss fires him, his brother turns away from him, and the bank won’t give him any money to start anew. He tries to find someone to blame for his misfortunes and comes up with the President of the United States who he plans to murder.
Pauly Shore Is Dead
Hollywood's Pauly Shore loses everything, fakes his own death, and gets caught.
Mystic River
A thriller about friendship and loyalty, guiltiness and vengeance, and the fateful affect the past has on the present. Sean Penn won an Oscar for his multifaceted performance as a father who lost his daughter.
It's All About Love
The story of two lovers and their attempts to save their relationship in a near-future world on the brink of cosmic collapse. John, and world-famous ice skating star, Elena, are about to sign divorce papers when they realise that, in spite of everything happening around them, their love is worth fighting for.
21 Grams
A freak accident brings together a critically ill mathematician, a grieving mother and a born-again ex-con.
I Am Sam
Sam, a neurodivergent man, has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations as a parent start to become a problem and the authorities take her away.
Dogtown and Z-boys
This award-winning, thrilling story is about a group of discarded kids who revolutionized skateboarding and shaped the attitude and culture of modern day extreme sports.
Up at the Villa
Superficial people are revealed and drastically changed by circumstance or luck in this a tale of death, seduction, blackmail and theft among British and Americans in Florence in the turbulent days just before World War II.
The Weight of Water
A newspaper photographer researches an 1873 double homicide and finds her own life paralleling that of a witness who survived the tragic ordeal.
Before Night Falls
The life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas.
A Constant Forge
One of the great mavericks of cinema, John Cassavetes has earned a reputation as the godfather of American independent movies. The actor-turned-filmmaker invented a realist style of unadorned narrative films heavily influenced by documentaries.
Sweet and Lowdown
A comedic biopic focused on the life of fictional jazz guitarist Emmett Ray. Ray was an irresponsible, free-spending, arrogant, obnoxious, alcohol-abusing, miserable human being, who was also arguably the best guitarist in the world.
Being John Malkovich
Spike Jone’s debut feature film is a love story mix of comedy and fantasy. The story is about an unsuccessful puppeteer named Craig, who one day at work finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich. The portal soon becomes a passion for anybody who enters it’s mad and controlling world of over overtaking another human body.
The Thin Red Line
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal.
Hurlyburly
Based on a play by David Rabe, Hurlyburlyis about the intersecting lives of several Hollywood players and wannabes, whose dysfunctional personal lives are more interesting than anything they're peddling to the studios.
U Turn
A man heading to Vegas to pay off his gambling debt before the Russian mafia kills him is forced to stop in an Arizona town where everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
The Game
In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game.
She's So Lovely
After being released from a psychiatric institution, a man tries to redeem himself in the eyes of his now-ex wife from the events that led up to his incarceration.
Hugo Pool
Hugo Pool is a quirky tale of a Los Angeles pool cleaner who falls in love with a young man dying of Lou Gerhig's Disease.
Dead Man Walking
A justice drama based on a true story about a man on death row who in his last days forms a strong relationship with a nun who teaches him forgiveness and gives him spirituality as she accompanies him to his execution. Susan Sarandon won an Oscar for best female actress for her convincing partial of Sister Helen Prejean.
Carlito's Way
A Puerto-Rican ex-con, just released from prison, pledges to stay away from drugs and violence despite the pressure around him and lead on to a better life outside of NYC.
State of Grace
Terry Noonan returns home to New York's Hells Kitchen after a ten year absence. He soon hooks up with childhood pal Jackie who is involved in the Irish mob run by his brother Frankie. Terry also rekindles an old flame with Jackie's sister Kathleen. Soon, however, Terry is torn between his loyalty to his friends and his loyalties to others.
We're No Angels
Casualties of War
Judgement in Berlin
American judge in Germany must decide if the hijacking of an East German plane into West Berlin was justified.
Colors
A confident young cop is shown the ropes by a veteran partner in the dangerous gang-controlled barrios of Los Angeles, where the gang culture is enforced by the colors the members wear.
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
Real-life letters written by American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines during the Vietnam War to their families and friends back home. Archive footage of the war and news coverage thereof augment the first-person "narrative" by men and women who were in the war, some of whom did not survive it.
Shanghai Surprise
Glendon Wasey is a fortune hunter looking for a fast track out of China. Gloria Tatlock is a missionary nurse seeking the curing powers of opium for her patients. Fate sets them on a hectic, exotic, and even romantic quest for stolen drugs. But they are up against every thug and smuggler in Shangai.
At Close Range
Based upon the true story of Bruce Johnston Sr., his son, and his brothers; together, they constituted one of suburban Philadelphia's most notorious crime families during the 1970's. Their criminal activities ranged from burglary, theft... and ultimately, murder.
The Falcon and the Snowman
The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.
Racing with the Moon
In 1942 California, two young men await induction into the U.S. Marines and say goodbye to their girlfriends.
Crackers
Reduced to minding the counter at a crusty pawn shop, Weslake stumbles onto a scheme by some disgruntled misfit clients to rob the place. Rather than blow the whistle, however, he insinuates himself as the heist's mastermind.
Risky Business
A Chicago teenager is looking for fun at home while his parents are away, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.
Bad Boys
Chicago crime kid, Mick O'Brien, is sent to reform school after accidentally killing a rival's kid brother.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Based on the humorous bestselling novel, Fast Times at Ridgemont High details the individual struggles of teenagers as they deal with independence, success, sexuality, money, maturity, school and just making it through the formative year.
Taps
Military cadets take extreme measures to insure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers.