Review of This Must Be the Place

This project apparently germinated when Sean Penn was directing the jury at Cannes at 2008 and told Italian Director Paolo Sorrentino that he was ready, willing and able to take on a Sorrentino project. The first-time viewer watching Sean Penn apply eye make up and lipstick doesn't know whether his character is a psychotic killer or a sad sack cross dresser, but over time we learn that he is a childlike creature, an aging pop star who can be simultaneously a nitwit and a truth-teller. The Nazi connection was a stretch that took me by surprise; it comes about at the death of Penn's character's father. Judd Hirsch playing the role of Nazi hunter galvanizes Penn's lost soul into following his father's mission, and together they pursue a neglected Nazi war criminal to a one-personal trailer park in Utah. Great casting here. Harry Dean Stanton has an intriguing bit part. Francis McDormand is the most understanding spouse in the whole world. Very quirky plot. Can't wait to see it again.