moonspinner55 Sean Penn plays John Smith, a.k.a. Cheyenne, a Robert Smith-like former pop star with wild black hair, black mascara around his piercing blue eyes and a trepidatious mouth finely-etched in red lipstick. He has been out of the music business (and, indeed, absent from the mainstream of life) for 20 years, secluded in his Dublin mansion after two kids killed themselves while listening to his forlorn songs. Upon learning that his once-estranged, recently-deceased father was a victim of the Nazi atrocities of World War II, he consults with a Nazi hunter and embarks on a mission to kill the SS officer still living in the United States. Director Paolo Sorrentino, who also co-authored the screenplay with Umberto Contarello, is tantalized by offbeat humor so low-keyed it sometimes passes for pathos; he's also enamored of faces, and he allows Penn lots of screen-time (too much time, one may argue) for the actor to work his soulful stare into the camera. Penn doesn't quite work his way into the viewer's heart, however, and this is the fault of the filmmaker, who unfolds his highly unlikely story very slowly and with a great deal of artistic flourish (i.e., pretension). Cinematographer Luca Bigazzi's camera swoops and glides around barren landscapes and empty rooms with amusingly smooth panache, but the audience isn't picking up on anything substantial except for the technique. Penn goes out on a limb with his performance--talking in a prissy-timid yet direct way that recalls Andy Warhol's pattern of speech--but, in the end, the role is a costume, and many other actors could have played John Smith--and perhaps improved upon it. Sorrentino wants to make us laugh and squirm and take pause. He wants to break our hearts over the course of the lead character's picaresque journey, but there's no truth in it. *1/2 from ****

sol- Depressed that his music motivated two teenagers to commit suicide, a former rock star finds a reason to live again after discovering that his recently deceased father hunted Nazi war criminals in this odd comedy-drama blend starring Sean Penn. The movie certainly sounds intriguing enough as Penn decides to carry on his father's quest, however, over a third of the film elapses before it reaches this point and then the pre-hunt scenes end up resonating more than the hunt ones. Penn's lifestyle is fascinating - residing in a mansion with a firefighter wife and a surrogate daughter in the former of a young fan (Eve Hewson) who he tries to play matchmaker for - and all the while long, Penn dons his stage makeup and speaks softly in near monotone. While they come with little narrative drive, it is nevertheless disappointing when these elements get pushed to the backdrop for Penn to continue his dad's quest. We never really learn how Hewson and Penn met, and the extent of their relationship (Penn potently verbalises a regret that he never had children of his own at one point). Nor do we learn how he came to meet his wife who seems entirely unlike him. Whatever the case, the film is very much propelled by Penn's performance. Always wearing full makeup, it initially comes off as a gimmicky performance, however, Penn manages to still let us see his character's soul beneath the razzle dazzle. There is an especially interesting sequence where he meets a former history teacher who has forgotten him, just like he has almost forgotten his old self beneath the makeup.

urbantrashri There's a new master filmmaker in town! If the devil--or drag queen--is in the details-- this three hours of drama slams it out of the park with its use of inanimate objects and color as characters, embedded numbers as methods of communication, and--ultimately a psychological choreograph of the life of a man struggling to reconcile rejection from his father and vein idolatry from the masses while retaining inner sanctum. Viewers are bound to the screen as they watch the main character - -and his five mirrored images--move through the phases of life and resolution for family honor all without compromise. You won't watch it once--but have plenty of frozen pizza and orange juice on hand when you do.

Jerghal Maybe like me you've seen the trailer and you thought it looked interesting and now you're wondering if you should see it. The answer is no, you don't have to. Sean Penn plays a washed-up has-been rock-star who shuffles trough life mumbling incomprehensibly much like Ozzy Osborne. He goes on a roadtrip looking for the 95 year old Nazi who tortured his father. One has to wonder who would come up with such a strange combination of elements. That's a bit what the whole film feels like. it has many great photographic compositions but they don't always seem to serve a purpose. Penn's character also meets different people along the way but it's not clear what they add to the plot other than to prolong the ending. The music is by David Byrne and the title of the film is a reference to one of his songs. For intellectuals and people pretending to 'get' the better movies it will all supposedly make sense but I'm guessing it requires more background knowledge than the average viewer of this film (including me) possesses. As a results you're left gawking at the beautiful imagery without understanding the implied meaning. The film clocks in at 118 min and thanks to the (intentionally) slow pace it seems to last even longer. I think you can best enjoy this one laid back in your sofa on a Sunday afternoon with a joint, some beers and a snack and let it just float by. If you over-think it too much you'll hate it (unless you're one of the earlier mentioned people).