This Must Be The Place (2011)
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 79
Fresh: 54 | Rotten: 25
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 9
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 7,571
Movie Info
Cheyenne (Sean Penn) is a former rock star. At 50, he still dresses 'Goth' and lives in Dublin off his royalties. The death of his father, with whom he wasn't on speaking terms, brings him back to New York. He discovers his father had an obsession: to seek revenge for a humiliation he had suffered. Cheyenne decides to pick up where his father left off, and starts a journey, at his own pace, across America. -- (C) Weinstein
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Cast
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Sean Penn
Cheyenne -
Frances McDormand
Jane -
Judd Hirsch
Mordecai Midler -
Eve Hewson
Mary -
Kerry Condon
Rachel -
Harry Dean Stanton
Robert Plath -
Joyce Van Patten
Dorothy Shore -
Olwen Fouere
Mary's Mother -
Shea Whigham
Ernie Ray -
Liron Levo
Richard -
Heinz Lieven
Aloise Lange -
Simon Delaney
Jeffrey -
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This Must Be The Place Trailer & Photos
All Critics (79) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (25)
Penn has created a colorful tour guide, but in "This Must Be the Place," there's no there there.
Top CriticWriter-director Paolo Sorrentino handles the story with surprising thoughtfulness.
The cast ... is outstanding, dragging the offbeat story through the occasional look-at-me distractions.
Although "This Must Be the Place" holds our attention, it's a little difficult to say where it's headed.
If you give Penn (and the movie) a chance, the character works, movingly and somewhat miraculously.
The movie replaces emotional precision and intellectual honesty with syrupy sincerity and insistence.
As oddly magnetic as Sean Penn's performance is, the film seems more preoccupied with being quirky and puzzling than with telling a cohesive, satisfying story.
"It would take a week mucking out a pork pie factory to acclimatise for a hamfest as nauseating as this."
Penn's Cheyenne is endearing and ultimately a little bit heartbreaking.
... a fascinating character study that goes beyond simple quirks and mannerisms.
Hits some wild notes but never quite finds its niche
Sean Penn performs another one of his amazing transmogrification acts as the rock star Cheyenne in This Must Be the Place.
Feels like a cult movie waiting to happen, or perhaps a mad experiment gone wrong. Either way, it's worth watching Penn, perhaps unwittingly, taking Jeff Spicoli to the burned-out end we might have guessed for him back at Ridgemont High.
Adjust to the Oscar winner's deadpan cartoon impersonation, and you may get on the wavelength of this quirkfest.
Immensely entertaining and occasionally very moving.
We begin to wonder why Penn even bothered with such a flimsy project in the first place. Let's not stop here very long.
The old country comes to the New World in a magical tale with ancient roots of a prodigal son returning for revenge . . .like a cinematic DeToqueville. . . kooky and lovely.
Less than the sum of its parts.
There's a real touch of magic in both Sorrentino's film and the stately, poised performance by Penn that anchors it.
Audience Reviews for This Must Be The Place
Super Reviewer
As Cheyenne's journey progresses it becomes more strange, indulging in quirkiness at the cost of story and somewhat isolating itself from the viewer. Tonally the film is inconsistent, with moments of comedy turning into those of drama in a jarring fashion. Despite its problems the film occasionally reaches the level of intrigue it strives for and Penn's Gothic performance is oddly endearing if a little tiresome.
Super Reviewer
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- Cheyenne: My instincts tell me pedantry is an essential characteristic for capturing Nazis.
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- Cheyenne: Why is Lady Gaga?
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- Cheyenne: No, Jane, I'm not trying to find myself. I'm in New Mexico, not India.
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- Rachel: Fear always saves as.
- Cheyenne: Always.
- Cheyenne: But you have to choose a moment in your life, even one, to not be afraid.
- Rachel: Have you choose that moment?
- Cheyenne: Yes, right now.
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- Cheyenne: There's something not quite right about this. I'm not sure what, but something.
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- Cheyenne: Persistence...and time...thats what wins girls over. It makes them feel safe.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Who is tony? | 2 months ago | 1 |
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Featured
Movie: ID: 771240597 Title: This Must Be The Place Release Date: 2012-11-02 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- Cheyenne - This must be the Place (DE)
- This Must Be the Place (UK)
