Sean Penn’s goth-drag-Nazi movie gets a bizarre trailer

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The notorious toupee of Sean Penn is on epic display at Cannes, particularly at the photocall for Penn’s goth-drag-Nazi hunting film, This Must Be The Place, which is Italian director Paolo Sorrentino’s English debut and has also received a new trailer. If you’ll recall, Penn was on location last August in Dublin, Ireland while looking like a tragic hot mess in a Robert Smith-esque wig, earrings, and gothy red lipstick. The movie’s odd premise involves Penn’s character, “Cheyenne,” (who is a wealthy, aging rocker living in a mansion) leaving his American, firefighting wife (Francis McDormand) behind to travel (by boat) on a quest to New York to reunite with his dying father. The story, naturally, turns into a hunt to find Nazi war criminals and persecutors; throughout his journey Cheyenne is reawakened and engages in much (clichéd) self discovery. For some inexplicable reason, there’s also a dog wearing an Elizabethan collar at the bottom of an empty swimming pool.

This Must Be the Place is a title that never fails to remind me of the Talking Heads song for which the film was named, and an early review from the Guardian indicates that a cameo by David Byrne is the highlight of a film that otherwise turns into a “diverting if derivative American odyssey.” As for Penn’s performance, the trailer indicates that his character might still be taking some of those bitchin’ drugs from the 1980s or, at the very least, has suffered long-lasting after effects.

Now to fully appreciate Penn’s weave, it must be witnessed at every available angle:

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At this point, Penn would look far less ridiculous if he ditched the toupee and stuck with the goth wig:

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Photos courtesy of WENN

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33 Responses to “Sean Penn’s goth-drag-Nazi movie gets a bizarre trailer”

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  1. Jen says:

    I don’t think it’s a toupee, I really don’t see it…

  2. ladybert62 says:

    Which is more ugly, the real Penn or the fake one with lipstick? They are both scarey!

  3. mln76 says:

    I hope this is a comedy…I love Frances Macdormand so much that I’ll probably see this…eventhough the trailer just gave me a headache.

  4. Eileen says:

    I was just about to rip Kaiser a new one for not mentioning his “Canadian Tuxedo” but then I saw Bedhead wrote it. Darn! 😉

  5. Ellie says:

    Yikes, he makes for a very ugly lady!

  6. Becca says:

    this is a weird (and funny) trailer. what a freak.

  7. Praise St. Angie! says:

    yeah, are we SURE it’s a toupee? because I see scalp through the hair in a couple of pics. I’m not so sure…

    in any case, I’m more offended by the “J on J” that he’s sporting.

    (aka “canadian tuxedo”, “guido tuxedo”, etc…)

  8. Wif says:

    I liked the trailer, it had a very different feel.

  9. beth says:

    im on valium right now, so half the things i say should be excusable on the account i’m almost slipping into unconsciousness, but it strikes me as sharp as a mean streak of sunlight, SEAN PENN IN DRAG IS SCARY and if i had a fully-functioning d*ck (and i generally would if i went for men in drag, right?), it would totally wilt and fall off. same goes for having a cl*t, which is healthy and fully functioning, thank you very much. it just shrivelled into itself in total horror, and thus manage to preserve itself for future usage.

    what the hell, this man has no clue some boundaries are not to be crossed when it comes to appearances.

    this is what happens when parents let their children fail in art class – no pattern recognition or colour coordination or sense of horror when things JUST DON’T MATCH.

  10. Heather says:

    Seeing scalp doesn’t mean much. I have a realistic wig I wear on occasion (sometimes having a mohawk isn’t acceptable) that looks like my scalp is showing through. Really, good wigs are very convincing. Some of the ones I’ve worn have a fake part and scalp.

  11. sapphire says:

    I think it’s a weave, not a full on lid.

  12. anait says:

    He looks older than he really is…

  13. Quest says:

    Sean Penn and Scarjo can both use their made-up characters (goth-drag-nazi and the Buster Keaton look) behind tightly closed doors. The make a perfect couple now.

  14. z says:

    Not sure it’s a toupee either…

  15. C says:

    communist douche

  16. daria says:

    He wasn’t a big believer in sunscreen or moisturizer in his youth I see

  17. Solveig says:

    Count me too on the “I’m not sure it’s a toupée”.
    I like Sorrentino’s works, Il Divo is a very good movie, but Penn’s acting baffles me… is the movie supposed to be ‘I am Sam Part II’ or what?

  18. albeli says:

    To the movie synopsis, I can only say, WTF?

  19. PrettyTarheel says:

    SEAN PENN LOOKS LIKE SIDESHOW BOB IN THE CANADIAN TUXEDO PICS!

    I finally put my finger on it.

  20. MarenGermany says:

    this looks really good. totally gonna watch

  21. Xx says:

    Geez, what happened to this guy. And they say Britney lost her marbles.

  22. sluggo says:

    My God, it looks like Sean is also channeling old-school actors a la ScarJo … only he’s looking a LOT like Sonny Tufts at the end of his career. Dude is looking ROUGH.

    All I can say about his dragulated look is that he really, REALLY resembles one of my hillbilly great-aunts — the one who spent most of her life sucking on cigs and swilling mean liquor, usually at the same time. Not good. Not good at ALL.

    (And I need some mean liquor myself after seeing these pix.)

  23. Rio says:

    I’m not seeing wig/weave/toupee either. What I AM seeing is a hideous dye job that makes it LOOK like a wig/weave/toupee.

  24. Fire says:

    he’s kinda gross

  25. wunderkindt says:

    Penn has no looks, no marbles, just zero appeal.

  26. Sillybunny82 says:

    It is not an Elizabethan collar on the dog…it is a bite-preventative collar that they get so they don’t mess with a wound.

  27. Liana says:

    @sillybunny, they are actually called Elizabethan collars. Or cones of shame.

  28. duh says:

    Robert Smith was cute, Sean looks just scaaary! He reminds me of somebody’s grandmother.

  29. gg says:

    Good gravy he’s gross. Can’t take my eyes off the rug.

  30. Solveig says:

    The funny thing is that Sean Penn resembles Bono, and Bono’s daughter – Eve Hewson – is in this movie (I suppose as Cheyenne’s daughter). She’s very pretty, fortunately she’s inherited both her parents’ best features.

  31. Awake says:

    The trailer makes this film look batshit crazy, but I’ll still see it. I liked THE SHOUT, a film by the same guy who directed this.

  32. Ja says:

    I saw this and I’m horrified! He looks like a freaky version of Robert Smith from the Cure. Is this some kind of a sick joke? Too lazy to invent something different for this stupid movie? I’m really pissed off.

  33. kibble says:

    i am sam + hedwig + edward scissorhands