A bored, retired rock star sets out to find his father's executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S.
It might not all work, it might risk absurdity at times but there is a bracing aesthetic and gentle humanity to This Must Be The Place that encourages you to overlook the flaws and embrace the ambition of it.
Succeeding against the odds and adroitly blending its disparate elements, this is a fine entry into the Eurodirector-gawps-at-America subgenre.
It’s an intriguing patchwork of a picture, with all the direction of a wonky-wheeled suitcase.
Determinedly quirky and cool, arresting and ultimately too baffling to be satisfying, although Penn is priceless. Cultdom beckons.
Penn is funny and sweet, but, as ever, he plays the character with utter conviction, refusing to treat Chayenne, or the pleasingly oddball premise, as a joke.
Sean Penn discovers his sense of humour as a retired goth rocker reconnecting with his past – but director Paolo Sorrentino's road-movie takes a puzzling left-turn.
Worth catching for the stunning soundtrack and Sorrentino’s mad direction.
Aimless road movie.
The story might prove too outrageous for many. Ditto the film's relentless strangeness.
To say the plot is overcrowded is putting it mildly, and it's hard to feel any sincere connection with Cheyenne's encounters when all of them seem to have been hatched within the same factory of oddball movie characters.
A great score from David Byrne puts the icing on this unruly but beguiling production.
It’s even weirder than it sounds but, crucially, much less fun.
The cameo from Harry Dean Stanton only reminds us that Wim Wenders has been down this road before to better effect, while the manner in which Sorrentino wastes Frances McDormand is simply criminal.
Strange, warm and humorous.
Along the way there are occasional arresting images, but they prove minor compensations.
Though the storyline threatens to open an interesting debate on grand narratives and purpose, by the time the film reaches its dénouement you can’t help but feel the Nazi hunt was more of a distraction than an answer. That said, this is undoubtedly a piece that will reveal more with each viewing.
Director Paolo Sorrentino discusses This Must Be the Place
Paolo Sorrentino
This Must Be the Place: When a rock god takes on a Nazi
General release. Check local listings for show times.