Discuss: Should Depp and Penn Be Two of Three Stooges?

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on February 5, 2009

I’ve tried to put this out of my mind. I really have. It’s nowhere near April Fool’s Day, but the likelihood of this being true is just slightly higher than the likelihood of this being a terrible, awful, no good, very bad idea.

It’s been floating around that the Farrelly Brothers are looking to cast Oscar-nominee Sean Penn and hilarious family film star Johnny Depp as Larry and Moe for their upcoming Three Stooges film. It originally appeared in In Touch (or it didn’t), and then a few websites latched onto it whether it got confirmed or not.

Of course, the best post is from Film Drunk who reported that Billy West – who we all love from “Futurama” and “Ren and Stimpy” – met with Sean Penn to channel his inner-Larry. This is, of course, not a euphemism. Unless it is.

I’m less interested in the veracity of the story, because I’m still ignoring it if it’s true, and more interested in whether it’s a good idea or not.

Gut reaction – it would be a pathetic display that needed Sir Ben Kingsley to round out the cast as Curly. He’s already bald, so it works. Second thought – wasn’t Depp fairly slapstick-y in Pirates? Wasn’t he…sort of good doing it? Epiphany – Oh, God, this might actually work.

I really can’t tell. Part of me knows it’s an awful idea, but part of me thinks it’s just stupid enough to work. I mean, who is going to want a Three Stooges movie in the first place? I would love to see slapstick take a prominent role in comedy, but the routine was so dated even when the first Stooges were doing stuff that they kept the stories to ten minutes or so.

What do you think? Epic Fail? Brilliant casting? Am I an idiot for even thinking it might be interesting? Would Depp look awesome with a bowl cut? Would they use a real bowl to cut his hair? Curly is awesome, but why does everyone forget about Shemp?

Read more articles by Dr. Cole Abaius