Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2012

Sean Penn is one of the best actors working today. Except when he isn’t. And no one can say he’s not courageous in his choice of roles. This time he tries on a fried, Ozzy Osbourne-type retired rock star, with about the same level of effectiveness as he achieved in I Am Sam. The aimless, affected, Dublin-based rocker, named Cheyenne, decides to hit the road and track down the Nazi prison guard who tormented his father, now hiding out in America. A deeply strange movie, with a dollop of social comedy but more than a little arty and unsure of its tone, this one falls short of its Lynchian aims.