2016 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 10: Sean Penn’s Proposes Cinematic War Zone for “The Last Face”

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A well liked actor and personality on the Croisette, he had his first outing as a filmmaker with The Indiana Runner land in the 1991 edition of the Directors’ Fortnight and saw his third film The Pledge break into the Competition in 2001, but you’d be hard pressed to find someone who’ll embrace his fifth feature film over 2007’s Into the Wild. Quite possibly his worst outing as a filmmaker, and the most disliked film in this year’s group of twenty-one, The Last Face has been ravaged by critics this morning with Timeout’s David Calhoun summing up thoughts that are being shared by most: “trite, pompous and painfully earnest aid-worker romance”. Starring Charlize Theron, Javier Bardem, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Jean Reno, this is described as a love story set against the backdrop of war-torn Africa.

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The Last Face Sean Penn

Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022, he was a New Flesh Juror for Best First Feature at the Fantasia International Film Festival. His top films for 2023 include The Zone of Interest (Glazer), Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Pham Thien An), Totem (Lila Avilés), La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher), All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson). He is a Golden Globes Voter.

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