cinemadiso's - Best Sean Penn Films List

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Bob Hodges (Robert Duvall) is a seasoned street cop who has learned a lot from long experience, while his young partner, Danny McGavin (Sean Penn), has learned nothing - and knows it well. Forced to work together in the L.A.P.D.'s renowned C.R.A.S.H.

anti-gang unit, they set out to investigate a brutal gang murder. Hated and hunted by both sides, the cops soon find themselves trapped in the middle of a turf war. With nowhere to turn, they are ambushed, double-crossed and shot at in a take-no-prisoners street battle. As the violence escalates, these two diametrically opposed men must come to terms with one important fact - to stay alive they must come together!

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A decade after leaving his old Irish-American neighbourhood, Terry Noonan is welcomed back to New York's Hell's Kitchen. A one-time street tough, Terry is now an undercover police officer targeting the head of the old gang, crime boss Frankie Flannery.

As he rekindles old friendships to get closer to his target, loyalties are questioned, tension escalates and the old neighbourhood is ready to explode.

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Witness to a vile crime, Private Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) is forced to stand alone against his fellow soldiers and commanding officer Sergeant Meserve (Sean Penn). A powerful and charismatic man pushed over the edge of barbarism by the terror and brutality of combat.

With sweeping scope, action and raw power, master filmmaker Brian De Palma creates a devastating and unforgettable tale of one man's quest for sanity and justice amidst the chaos of war.

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After his father (Pat Hingle) finds him a job at the CIA, Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) discovers the less reputable side of the American government through handling classified documents.

As he grows increasingly disillusioned, Boyce decides to sell the information to the Russians in an act of defiance. A drug-addicted friend of Boyce's, Daulton Lee (Sean Penn), becomes involved in the plot and acts as a middleman between Boyce and the Soviets but the erratic Lee fails to cover his tracks.

The epic yet intimate story follows the life journey of Jack O'Brien (played as an adult by Penn), the eldest son of a fractured Texas family. Pitt delivers a powerful performance as the cataclysmic force of nature in Jack's world, his complex and rigidly authoritarian father.

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A teenage farm boy looking for excitement finds himself on a collision course with his smooth-talking gang leader father in this powerfully disturbing tale based on the story of real-life killer Bruce Johnston.

Oscar nominee Sean Penn and Oscar winner Christopher Walken star in this "hot, horrifying saga of an American criminal family. Juvenile delinquent Brad Whitewood, Jr. (Penn) knows about petty theft, but he wants big money - enough to blow the lid off his boring life, enough to get out of town and to find his ol' man. He wants to be like his dad, a big-time thief, who knows the business. Seductive and sinister, Brad's father is full of toxic wisdom that makes his illicit life appear eerily sexy. But when Brad witnesses his father deliberately killing someone, he realizes he may not only be in over his head...he may also lose it for good.

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Jimmy. Dave. Sean. Friends who grew up in working-class Boston, they drift apart after a terrible tragedy. Years later, brutal events reconnect them. Jimmy's 19-year-old daughter is coldly murdered. Dave is a suspect.

And Sean, now a cop, scrambles to solve the crime before volatile Jimmy takes the law into his own hands.

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At the age of nine, they've joined a street gang. At twelve they're pushing drugs. At sixteen, they're part of a nightmare teenage underworld of rape, mugging, armed robbery and murder.

Sean Penn gives an outstanding performance as Mick O' Brien, a juvenile delinquent imprisoned for the murder of a rival street gang member. The dead man's brother, Paco, wants his revenge but he can't get at Mick, so he goes after his girlfriend instead. If Mick thought life on the outside was tough, life on the inside is even tougher, and the only person who can help him...is himself.

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Sister Helen Prejean (Sarandon), a compassionate New Orleans nun, is the spiritual advisor to Mathew Poncelet (Penn), a vicious, angry and complex murderer awaiting execution. Her dedication is to help others, like Mathew, find salvation.

But as she attempt to navigate Mathew's dark soul, she encounters a depth of evil that makes her question how far redemption can really go. Can she stave off the fateful day of execution long enough to save Mathew, or will she discover a truth that will rock the very foundations by which she lives?

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His life changed history. His courage changed lives. Sean Penn stars in this stirring celebration of Harvey Milk, a true man of the people.

Based on the inspiring true story of the first openly gay man elected to major public office, this compelling film follows Milk's powerful journey to inspire hope for equal rights during one of the least tolerant times in the history of U.S.