Joey Wellman, a cantankerous American cartoonist, accepts an invitation to come to an exhibition in Paris, because his estranged daughter Elsie is a student there. He arrives with his girlfriend Lena, and very soon wants to go home as the culture shock is too much for him.

Alain Resnais whisks us off to Paris for a madcap clash of cultures. Co-written by Jules Feiffer, who brought Popeye to life for Robert Altman, I Want to Go Home sees comic book fan Resnais bring the funny pages to life with an irrepressible Looney Tunes vitality.