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Trailer for Sean Penn's The Last Face.
A director (Charlize Theron) of an international aid agency in Africa meets a relief aid doctor (Javier Bardem) amidst a political/social revolution, and together face tough choices surrounding humanitarianism and life through civil unrest.
Most people know Sean Penn for his acting roles in movies such as Milk, Mystic River or I Am Sam. But, Penn also loves to direct and this will be his fifth film sitting in the Directors chair. The other films were:
Into the Wild
The Pledge
The Crossing Guard
The Indian Runner
Out of the film Penn has Directed, he was also a Writer for all of them except two, The Pledge and this film The Last Face. There is also one feature film where Penn wrote the screenplay but did take on the directorial role, The Gunman.
This is truly an international cast, none of the lead actors come from the United States. Charlize Theron is from South Africa; Jean Reno from Morocco, Adele Exarchopolus from France; and Javier Bardem from Spain.
This film has all the ingredients for what could be a fantastic motion picture, but based on this trailer it looks to fall flat. There is an amazing cast here with three well accredited actors at the forefront and a story line that could be compelling all on its own, but this film has made for TV feel to it that is not appealing to me.
I am not sure if it is the trailer that is the issue and giving us a bad representation of the film itself, or in fact this film is just mediocre. I would typically say that I will wait for it come out on demand like on Netflix, but with Netflix's upcoming slate of very promising films, I do not think this belongs even on that same level.