// BEGIN editorial data var i = 0; var Ent_FiveTop_060922 = new Array(); Ent_FiveTop_060922.ID = "Ent_FiveTop_060922"; Ent_FiveTop_060922.ID_WB = 14941642; Ent_FiveTop_060922.sPubDate = "9/21/2006 8:34:56 PM GMT"; Ent_FiveTop_060922.navsectionID = "3032083" Ent_FiveTop_060922.appFmt = 2; Ent_FiveTop_060922.itemsPerPage = 5; Ent_FiveTop_060922.nTeaseW = 198; Ent_FiveTop_060922.nTeaseH = 198; Ent_FiveTop_060922.appWidth = 624; Ent_FiveTop_060922.appHeader = ""; Ent_FiveTop_060922.appFooter = "   By Paige Newman, Movies Editor"; Ent_FiveTop_060922.rowSpacer = "20"; Ent_FiveTop_060922.rowAlt = "F7F7F7"; Ent_FiveTop_060922.appNavStyle = 3; Ent_FiveTop_060922.appLayout = 1; Ent_FiveTop_060922.copyMargin = 9; Ent_FiveTop_060922.copyBorder = 0; Ent_FiveTop_060922.sBodyFont = "font-size:12px;"; Ent_FiveTop_060922[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060921/060921_5top_carlitos_7a.small.jpg","","Sean Penn and Al Pacino", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Universal Pictures", "142", "198", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_060922[i-1].body = "“Carlito’s Way” (1993): Think it’s easy stealing a movie from Al Pacino? Penn certainly makes it looks that way. His best roles are in films where he isn’t afraid to be despicable. Such is the case in this Brian De Palma film, as Penn plays David Kleinfeld, a sleazy, coked-up, Jewish mob lawyer who manages to get Carlito Brigante’s (Pacino) prison sentence overturned. In return, he just has one little favor he needs Pacino to do for him. Kleinfeld’s downfall is his own arrogance – he thinks he’s smarter than everyone around him and he’s dead wrong. With every action, Penn shows us what Kleinfeld can’t see about himself. It’s an amazing piece of acting in a terrific film."; Ent_FiveTop_060922[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060921/060921_5top_mystic_7a.small.jpg","","Sean Penn in Mystic River", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Warner Bros.", "160", "198", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_060922[i-1].body = "“Mystic River” (2003): Penn took home the Academy Award for his performance as the grieving but vengeful Jimmy Markum. When his daughter is murdered, Markum is so torn apart by grief that a crowd literally has to hold him back. He begins to suspect that friend Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins) may have something to do with the murder, which puts him on a deadly path. Some thought Penn’s performance was overwrought, but what works is the energy he puts into tracking down the guilty party, as if investing in that task will somehow relieve his ailing soul. Yes, the ending moments with Laura Linney are baffling, but Penn astonishes in the way he’s able to show raw pain."; Ent_FiveTop_060922[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060921/060921_5top_falcon_7a.small.jpg","","Sean Penn in Falcon and the Snowman", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "MGM", "148", "198", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_060922[i-1].body = "“The Falcon and the Snowman” (1985): Based on the real story of two young men, former seminarian-turned-CIA clerk Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) and his drug dealer pal Daulton Lee (Penn), who decided to sell government information to the Soviet Union. Penn gives Daulton both the bravado necessary to initially walk into the Soviet embassy in Mexico and the stupidity to talk openly about what he’s doing at a party back home. He actually suggests a drug deal to his Soviet contact at one point. Penn plays drug-addled like no-one else (see also “Hurlyburly”) and Daulton is coked up throughout the film. A postscript: the real-life Lee now actually works for Penn. "; Ent_FiveTop_060922[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060921/060921_5top_fasttimes_7a.small.jpg","","Sean Penn as Spicoli (with Mr. Hand!) in Fast Times", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Universal Pictures", "147", "198", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_060922[i-1].body = "“Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982): As one editor here said recently, “You can’t have a list of great Sean Penn films without ‘Fast Times.’” It’s easy to discount this early role because it seems truly effortless for Penn. But that’s just why his Jeff Spicoli works so well. Spicoli feels like someone you actually might have known in high school; his philosophy, “All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine,” is completely relatable. Amy Heckerling’s film was supposed to feel like you were spying on real high schoolers, but it only truly feels that way when Penn occupies the screen. And the usually tortured actor actually looks like he’s having a good time. Imagine that."; Ent_FiveTop_060922[i++] = new Array("","","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060921/060921_5top_thin_7a.small.jpg","","Sean Penn, with Woody Harrelson and the gang, in Thin Red Line", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Twentieth Century Fox", "143", "198", "1", "", "", "", ""); Ent_FiveTop_060922[i-1].body = "“The Thin Red Line” (1998): Penn makes the most of a small role in this glorious Terrence Malick World War II film. As the dispassionately realistic Sgt. Edward Welsh, Penn stands in perfect contrast to the dreamy Pvt. Witt (Jim Caviezel), who hasn’t given up on his visions of paradise. “In this world, a man, himself, is nothing. And there ain't no world but this one,” Welsh tells Witt. In a film full of stunning performances (particularly Elias Koteas and Ben Chaplin) Penn excels by not standing out; he simply blends in as one of the men. Think that’s easy? George Clooney, John Travolta and Adrien Brody were all featured in “Line” and couldn’t pull it off. "; // END editorial data