Sean Penn as "Stooge" Larry Fine?

by Carrie Rickey

Published March 25, 2009, 4:17 p.m. ET

Not a joke. Still, it made me laugh. According to the Hollywood trade newspaper Variety, Sean Penn -- an actor (despite his Spicoli in "Fast Times at Ridgmont High") better known for gravity than comedy -- is "attached" to a Farrelly Brothers screenplay about The Three Stooges. He would be Larry Fine.

Says the report: MGM and the Farrelly brothers are closing in on their cast for "The Three Stooges." Studio has set Sean Penn to play Larry, and negotiations are underway with Jim Carrey to play Curly, with the actor already making plans to gain 40 pounds to approximate the physical dimensions of Jerome "Curly" Howard. The studio is zeroing in on Benicio Del Toro to play Moe. The film is not a biopic, but rather a comedy built around the antics of the three characters that Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Howard played in the Columbia Pictures shorts."

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

Should Steve Martin play Shemp? Or should Jon Stewart?