Sean Penn

Great actor. Maybe the best of our generation. Just can't stand when these guys use fame as a platform for their political views. I give him a bad review simply because of that. If he stuck to acting then he would get 5 stars. He makes every movie he's in better. Just please stop talking politics because it's old, it's tired and frankly wrong. You don't like it here then move. BTW, how's that hope and change working out for the country?

Very good actor but a political idiot. I can't go along with his support of Chavez. I thought he was going to move away from the U.S. if Bush was re-elected? What happened with that?

He may be a great actor but he does not know when to speak & when to shut up in his personal life. He just gave Rush Limbaugh & Sean Hannity 3 months worth of topic in his Oscar acceptance speech! thanks a lot (sarcastically)!

I couldn't name three movies I've seen this guy in, but I remember him doing a good job in what I've seen. Nothing extraordinary, but decent.

Some talent and less brains!

Since it is the actor whom Keanu respects, it is going to convince me, if surely wonderful. But, I surely dislike exaggerated performance of Penn.

He should play more greasy dirty rat roles because he is perfectly suited for these roles if he wants to continue acting. It goes a long way when your father is a big name in the movie industry. That's how he got into the movies. However, Sean Penn will always be one of the absolute worst actors Hollywood has ever produced. Sure, he plays a pretty decent role sometimes but generally and overall he stinks. He should relax and be himself and not try to be some tough guy.

Hi people! I think we rate the ACTING's skill not political view. I regards Sean as one of the best Hollywood actor.

a rich, overrated, spoiled malcontent.

Sean Penn is not overrated at all;he deserves whatever praise he gets. I didn't see him in Mystic River, but I'll never forget his performance in At Close Range. He was very touching and believable as the son of a criminal.

Nick Spicoli was a GREAT character. But I saw Penn in an interview acting tough. He ought to just be himself. For instance, Clint Eastwood acts tough, but it's genuine. Penn's not genuine. Maybe he's technically a good actor, but when he gives an interviewer a glare like he wants to kick his ass, he's just being a big f-n jerk! He's an overrated actor. Definitely not great.

Ugly as a mud fence (could have played Popeye without makeup) - but I think he's a decent actor. I'm looking forward to his next movie Mystic River. My opinion is based only on a preview I watched last week, but this film impressed me as worthy of theater admission price.

Sean Penn is a great actor and could play any dramatic role!

Ah, reading the comments made by the neo-cons sure gives me a good laugh. Allow me to share some with you: :) "Perhaps he has never thought about the fact that if the terrorists attack the US they will not differentiate between hollywoodites and fellow Americans. They will kill him, seize his property and then refuse to go see any of his movies" AND then, and AND then, they're gonna HUFF AND PUFF AND BLOWWW.... (Quick! Get the duct tape!!) But seriously. First they will kill him, then seize his property, AND THEN not watch any of his movies.....hmmmm..... a good thing the terrorists have their priorities straight..... "I lost a whole lot of respect for him when he expressed his ignorant, anti-war sentiments." You want ignorant, read this: "All actors are retards. It's the real people who matter. If movies stopped, we'd all live on very nicely, probably better." Nice to know actors aren't "real" people, but I think I'll leave it to Dr. Freud with that one. Actors, jus... Read more

Sean Penn is a fantastic actor and EVERYONE including actors have the right to express their views. Penn is an excellent actor and I agree with him on many things, however I admit that he can exaggerate in some of his statements. He should remember that if you say 99 great things, but 1 outrageous statement, the media will pick up on that 1 and no one will know the rest.

All actors are retards. It's the real people who matter. If movies stopped, we'd all live on very nicely, probably better.

Again, this a poll for actors...not politics. Penn is an absolutely brilliant actor, director and writer. Harry Crews and Charles Bukowski were good friends with this interesting and talented man. Nothing wrong with having an opinion on government policy...anyone remember freedom of speech? You want great acting, chjeck out Hurly Burly(with Kevin Spacey), I am Sam, Dead Man Walking, etc. Questioning authority is the only true system of checks and balance we have. He sought answers. Everyone should. Turn a blind eye to your government and you will one day awaken without rights. Turn a blind eye to Penn's career and you will miss some excellent movies.

Incredible in his role as a mentally retarded man in "I am Sam," but I lost a whole lot of respect for him when he expressed his ignorant, anti-war sentiments.

He is homely, a traitor and cannot act

Sean Penn.....by far the best actor in Hollywood and he proved that in I am Sam. Sean Penn played that role like he really lived that life. I wonder everyday why he didn't win the Oscar for that movie. He has made his share of box office bombs but his good roles have always been nothing but EXCELLENT!!! I like the fact that he and his wife Robin Wright Penn keep to themself. I never see them on talk shows begging people to go and see there movies. Dead Man Walking, what a movie. Sean, Susan and Tim Robbins made a break thru when they made that movie, that movie will go down in history!!! Sean Penn I give you a 10 all around!!!!!

This is one of my favorite actors. He is very versitile. But I still like him best as Jeff Spicoli.

Like him or not, Sean Penn is one of the few actors who has a legitimate claim to the title of "Best American Actor". Sadly, he's better known as Madonna's first husband.

To have the range of Spicoli to a deathrow inmate... pretty damn good

A take on our life, something in each of us. -john

Two words: Ridgemont High!

Despite the [borderline gay] nightmares I have about him being my friend and then beating me up, I think this guy is a seriously great actor. I didn't even know that was Penn in Carlito's way as the Jewish lawyer that becomes a gangster and is then [spoiler alert] MURDERED IN A HOSPITAL ROOM WHEN AL PACINO STEALS HIS BULLETS.

He really is a good actor.  He was great in Mystic River, Dead Man Walking, & the Weight of Water.  As for his politics, who cares?  For all those who complain about the "hollywood types" who sound of, who would NOT sound off if someone stuck a microphone in your face and asked your opinion??

I guess I first became aware of him in the early to mid 80's, and, like a lot of people, thought he was little more than a snotty punk; Madonna's belligerent, pugnacious boy-toy (although, in retrospect, I can't say how even-tempered I'd be or how mature I'd act if every belch and burp I had was documented with fetishistic intensity by a parasitical army of "reporters" and paparazzi). I tired quickly of reading about his drunken exploits and frequent fist-fights. Then I saw him in "At Close Range" and I was blown away. Based on the real-life crimes of the vicious Bruce Johnston Sr. (played with exceptional cold-bloodedness by Christopher Walken) gang, which operated in the rural Brandywine Valley region of Pennsylvania during the 1970's, it was a technically flawed film in some ways (Director James Foley had obviously been watching way too much MTV), but the tragically compelling storyline, and the power-house intensity of the actors involved made this one of the most devastating film... Read more

First off, Penn's appearance on this list is intended for rating him as an actor, and not for his political beliefs or statements. By strictly acting standards he is simply one of the best, if not the best, actors of his generation. Perhaps the only actor who is as good, and comparable in age, IMO, is Gary Oldman, but that's a whole different debate. Excellent work in everything from "Fast Times" to "Mystic River," an actor with a broad range, and a fine director, his films "The Indian Runner" and the one he made with Nicholson about a serial killer, the name eludes me at the moment, were highly underrated. A reviewer below noted that Penn looks like a scumbag, well, he does, but he and Robbins nailed the spirit of the characters who inhabit working class Boston in a way that is maybe equalled only by Boyle and Mitchum in "The Friends of Eddie Coyle." Are there actors who open their mouth about things they don't fully understand? You bet, but Penn is just as entitled to his opinion as... Read more

GREAT actor, with diverse roles. I like his politics too. He has every right, like anyone else, to speak out against our policies, the President, etc. In this case, he happens to be correct about the idiot savant Bush! Bush IS the worst President we've EVER had, and a DISGRACE to moral, educated, and aware Americans everywhere. The Iraqi invasion WAS WRONG, and a dark chapter in our history. We continue to kill innocent victims to this day, as we just bombed a village in Pakistan and killed women and children to try to get to Al-Zawahiri. Nice going moron!

Looks like a scumbag and off camera seems to be out in leftfield, but check out his performances in movies and he's really talented and has come across well in some good roles. On acting alone he's four stars. *********UPDATE************* Sean Penn Goes up a Star and maybe even One more for actually going to New Orleans, getting in a boat and looking for Hurricane survivors. Lots of people talk the talk, yet Penn actually is doing something tangible and real about the tragedy as well.

sean penn has come a long way since fast times at ridgemont high and madonna. he is a talent in his own making. he will be around for a while whether its in front or back of the camera

gets better and better... the next DeNiro

Irritating personality. . .but I have to give him a solid 4 stars as an actor. He's memorable in most of his movies. Mystic River is his latest role where I thought he was pretty good. Another memorable performace was the sleazy lawyer in Carlito's Way.

This guy hardly ever gets the recognition he deserves as an actor-perhaps because he has the courage to speak out openly about what he believes.Too bad in a supposedly free country that can hurt your career...

Frankly, I could care less about Sean Penn's political rantings and ravings (which is totally irrelevant). And I personally don't give a damn about Penn as a human being. What is strictly relevant here, however, is Penn's immense acting ability. As an actor, he deserves to be mentioned amongst today's very best. A rare acting talent with an eye for breakthrough roles, Penn is quickly becoming one of the great modern actors of his era. Moreover, he takes chances of which few others would. For this, Penn ought to be commended.