I can’t say that I’ve ever had a strong opinion – or any opinion – about Sean Penn. I may have watched a film he was in, and I booked but didn’t get as far as the cinema to see The Tree of Life. In future, I’ll be hanging on his every word. He finds Britain ‘colonialist, ludicrous and archaic’ for hanging on to the Malvinas, and refusing to try and come to an agreement with Argentina. The Telegraph isn’t pleased with him, and the Mail calls him ‘vainglorious and ill-informed’, though the adjectives he chose seem remarkably informed to me.

LRB 8 March 2012 | PDF Download