Even before the Cannes line-up had been seen This Must Be the Place
cemented its place as the odd duck of the festival. The juxtaposition of Sean
Penn dressed up in flamboyant gothic attire with an ostensibly serious
storyline involving the holocaust had critics speculating less as to whether
Sorrentino had gone off the rails and more as to what extent he'd gone off the
rails. It's rather unfortunate then, that the finished product is not a
brightly burning film maudit but rather a carefully composed and hollow
film that mashes together the holy idiot movie and the road trip movie in a manner
uncomfortably reminiscent of Forrest Gump.
