Well, it’s certainly a change of pace from playing Harvey Milk. Sean Penn is going back to his Jeff Spicoli comedic roots, and is signing on to play Larry in the Farrelly brothers’ upcoming Three Stooges movie. Peter and Bobby Farrelly have been pitching this project for nearly a decade, which is almost as long as it’s been since they made a funny movie. Now MGM is offering to pick up the tab (a hefty $45 million, allegedly), and the movie might finally be made. With Sean Penn in the role he was born to play. The other casting decisions sound almost equally odd: Jim Carrey (who’s gaining forty pounds for the role) as Curly, and–get this–Benicio del Toro as head stooge Moe Howard.

Now for the bad news: this isn’t a movie about the Three Stooges, which might be sort of interesting. No, the Farrellys want to make a Three Stooges movie. As if anyone ever accused the Farrellys of making overly cerebral comedies. Actually, some are expressing considerable doubt about whether this will ever be made, since MGM’s credibility as a film powerhouse expired quite a while ago. I almost hope they’re wrong. It might be nice to see this, if only to sit through ninety minutes of Penn getting brutalized by Benicio del Toro. Knowing that Sean is such a huge admirer of Che and all.