Image Credit: Pixplanete/PR PhotosVariety reports that Sean Penn is prepping to play Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, the eccentric patriarch of a surfing dynasty profiled in the terrific 2007 documentary Surfwise.
Feel free to insert your own Spicoli joke here. I’ve got more important things to think about — like, for example, how great a movie this could be. Anyone who caught Surfwise knows that the Paskowitz story — nine kids, one trailer, endless surfing — is one of the weirder and cooler slices of Americana ever put on film. (Check out the trailer here.) I’m excited to see it turn into a feature period, let alone one with an A-lister like Penn tackling the lead. And what a role: Dorian Paskowitz went to Stanford Medical School, then ditched his job to become a roving wave guru and sire nine improbably attractive children who almost all became champion surfers. You might as well go ahead and put Penn on your Oscar ballot for 2012 (assuming, fingers crossed, that the movie actually happens).
Anybody else out there excited for this? Would it help if I linked to another Spicoli clip? Yeah, I thought so.
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I don’t think I’ll ever quite understand the appeal of Sean Penn, or Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Both just don’t do anything for me.
I’m not sure about this becoming a feature film. The thing I liked most about the doc was seeing the children as adults and the problems they faced. I feel like this would get lost in a script.
hahahaha. when I first read this headline, I thought it said “Sean Penn as SMURF legend…” Sean Penn as a smurf? now THAT’s genius casting.
I just pray Sean can get HALF as crazy as my dad…
What do you think of Sean Penn playing your dad? I admire Sean Penn more than anyone would know. And not just for movies but for other reasons.
Well my dad is more than a handful but after I saw what he did for Milk I believe he is the ONLY choice for ‘Doc’. Mom,dad and youngest brother just met with him and said how wonderful he really was as a person and from what was said, he was equally happy to know their acquaintance. Weirdly exciting…
Please go away Sean Penn.
sean finest role of his career was Spicoli nothing he did after was worth a dam……He set the image of a sport, for good or bad that has lasted the test of time
How fitting he is the one setting the new perspective of what surfers have become…
Doc is a one off, Sean is a one off, if anyone can capture the Doc, Sean can!
Sean Penn acting as Dr. Paskowitz is a great cast, especially if Doc is cool with it. Mr. Penn has a body of work that resonates with his ability to portray intensely moving characters. Taps,FTARH,Falcon,Colors,Carlitos,Dead Man,Sweet n Low,Mystic River, Milk? Holy COW, Cant wait to see this film.
Great actor and TheSexHookup
A great actor playing one of the most interesting people I have met in my life. There is only one DOC but i think Sean will do him justice. Much love to Doc and the Ohana…
David..I seen the documentary and thata the first i have heard of your family. i found it interesting and fasinating. I find your dad a truly amazing man..right or wrong..truly amazing. Sean penn would be great for the part.
Just watched the documentary for the second time last night. Fascinating and compelling, to say the least. A couple times per year,we spend 2 weeks camping in San Clemente. We have a 28 ft. trailer and 5 kids. TOward the end of the 2 wks, what began as a neat, orderly, organized trailer with 7 happy loving people.. has turned into a mess of clothing, sand, and people at each others throats. I can’t imagine what they went through, but what an amazingly awesome experience this must have been.
Hahahahaa!! That’s a great correlation to the duality of being Paskowitz. You’re right that sometimes it was unexplainable in its free-spirited awesomeness and equally, unbearably suffocating when there was no place to escape to…no going home to wash away the “mess”.
Hey David, is there any word as to when filming might begin on this project or has it already begun?
oh, and can’t wait to see if this film comes to be. Sean Penn, I think a good choice. But you know we have to throw Keanu Reeves in there somewhere.. were there any FBI agents involved in the story?
Is this ever going to come to fruition? I will keep my eye out. I think that it would be great on screen.