Oh, boy. It’s been a tough year for tough guy Sean Penn. First there was the controversy over what some called his self-serving interview with drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Now comes the actor’s latest directorial effort, which many critics have described as the bomb of the Cannes Film Festival.
On Friday, Penn was in Cannes to debut his new film, a romantic drama called The Last Face. According to an Australian news outlet, the screening audience reacted with unintended laughter during the movie, and with boos once the credits began to roll. And the critics hammered it on Twitter.
Things were reportedly just as awkward between Penn and his former fiance Charlize Theron, who stars in the film, but who broke up with Penn last year. According to some accounts, Penn and Theron could barely look at each other while posing for red-carpet photos and answering questions during a festival press session.