Sean Penn is, arguably one of the finest actors of his generation. The two time Academy Award winner chooses his projects carefully, despite some being hit and miss. It is unfortunate, but completely unsurprising that The Gunman is a miss.
Penn plays Jim Terrier, A former Special Forces soldier and military contractor suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that tries to reconnect with his long time love, but first must go on the run from London to Barcelona and across Europe in order to clear his name.
Javier Bardem as Felix is underused. Wasted talent with the supporting cast is wretched as all Bardem plays is a small chess piece that tries to intervene with Penn’s character. Idris Elba as Dupont doesn’t take advantage of the fact he played the historic Mandela and takes a huge step back to let Penn do all the work, as he is the Internal Affairs stylized cop looking out for Penn’s every move. Ray Winstone as Stan plays Penn’s loyal informant, his cockney ‘geeza’ image adds to the charm of his performance and creates good on screen chemistry with Penn, but not enough to sustain the impact of what this British legend is capable off. Credit must be given to the leading lady and love interest, Justine Trinca in the character of Annie. She’s a fresh faced Italian actress known for The Son’s Room along with other European films. She uses her beauty, charm and charisma carefully as she is given a chance to spar opposite a Hollywood leading man.
Overall the climax of the final act is fairly entertaining where it is almost a bull fight protagonist, antagonist and damsel in distress. Penn’s seizures of PTSD are well structured and acted in all the right places to deliver tension as he fights the bad guys, but generally The Gunman is nothing but a pure disappointment . If you want to watch it, you’ll need The Clockwork Orange eye contraption to force them open to last the whole 115 minutes. Stick to dramas Sean, it’s what you’re best at.
The Gunman is out this Friday