"But Anderson's One Battle, an adaptation of the always politically minded novelist Thomas Pynchon, has a certain extra resonance in 2026 because of the surprise strike from the White House on Venezuela and because of its casting of an unlikely player in 21st century foreign policy: Sean Penn. The onetime Gen X badboy was famously, briefly married to pop icon Madonna before reinventing himself as one of the greatest actors of his generation, notching an Oscar for 2003's Mystic River."
"Shortly after his crowning as Hollywood royalty, Penn emerged as a notable voice endorsing the Chavismo that ultimately led to Maduro and a near 30-year economic unraveling in Venezuela. In One Battle, Penn's Col. Steven J. Lockjaw lampoons the sort of right-wing Americans who are angry about immigration in general and left-wing activism in particular, but his real-life politics showed almost a hero worship, certainly a weird bromance, with Hugo Chávez in Venezuela."
Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro's capture echoes the 1989 seizure of Panama's Manuel Noriega and signals a return to interventionist U.S. foreign policy, coinciding with Hollywood's renewed examination of American imperialism. Oscar contenders such as Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, Ryan Coogler's Sinners, and Josh Safdie's .Life engage questions about power and U.S. influence abroad. A surprise White House strike and President Trump's declaration that "we're going to be running Venezuela" emphasize direct U.S. involvement. Anderson's film gains relevance through the casting of Sean Penn, whose past endorsement of Chavismo and praise of Hugo Chávez intersect with Venezuela's oil-fueled rise and subsequent economic unraveling.
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