Are Sean Penn, Jim Carrey and Benicio Del Toro the Three Stooges?

Reports say that The Farrelly Brothers are focusing on this Golden Globe winning trio as Larry, Moe and Curly

By HitFix Staff Wednesday, Mar 25, 2009 2:10 PM

Are Penn, Carrey and Del Toro the Three Stooges?

Sean Penn -- Is this the face of a Stooge?

Credit: Thibault Camus/AP

Since when do you need to be an Oscar or Golden Globe winner to play a Stooge?

According to Variety, MGM and the Farrelly brothers are assembling a highly pedigreed cast for their new take on "The Three Stooges."

The trade paper says that Sean Penn is set to play Larry and that Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly and that the funnyman would plan to gain 40 pounds for the role.

In addition, the trade says that MGM is "zeroing in on" Benicio Del Toro to play Moe, a casting preference Peter and Bobby Farrelly have been discussing for years.

The Farrellys have been trying to mount their take on the classic comic characters -- i.e. this will be a Larry, Moe and Curly movie, not a movie about the actors who played the Three Stooges -- for years, but "The Three Stooges" may finally be ready to shoot in early fall for a 2010 release.

In addition to winning his second Oscar, Penn earned praise for showing his later side in "Milk." While he famously starred in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," Penn's later comic credits -- including "Shanghai Surprise" and "We're No Angels" -- weren't as well received.

Although he's better known for angsty turns in "Traffic" and "21 Grams," it should never be forgotten that Del Toro showed comic chops in "Big Top Pee-wee," "Swimming with Sharks" and "Snatch."

While Carrey would be the only Stooge without an Oscar, he did win Golden Globes for "Man on the Moon" and "The Truman Show," putting him one ahead of each of his potential castmates.

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Inside Analysis

Del Toro's been attached to play Moe for years, and he's already worked with the Farrelly Brothers on his interpretation of the angriest Stooge. Think about his work in "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas," where he's scary and hilarious at the same time. Penn scored big by smiling for the first time in years in "Milk," and word is that he's looking to keep things light for a while and have some fun on film. Carrey and the Farrellys had a great relationship on "Me, Myself & Irene," and he's obviously in need of a wild comedy hit right now. The casting may be untraditional but the script -- three Stooges shorts played back-to-back -- is absolutely the traditional take on the Stooges, and the strange star power makes this one of those see-it-for-yourself movies, good or bad.

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