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: 21
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 8
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 6,943
My Rating
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
Watch It Now
Cast
-
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 -
ADVERTISEMENT
This Must Be The Place Trailer & Photos
All Critics (79) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (25)
Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino handles the story with surprising thoughtfulness.
Top CriticThe 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.
In the end, "This Must Be the Place" isn't just bad. It's inappropriate.
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.
Penn has created a colorful tour guide, but in "This Must Be the Place," there's no there there.
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
I enjoyed the road trip bits. Nice scenery and interesting characters. Sean Penn's Cheyenne also grows on you, though initially I wondered if he was meant to be mentally challenged. This is the kind of movie that works better if you just go with it and not try and think if it makes sense, because it kind of doesn't. As a story, it's kind of all over the place, and can't even get my head around the nazi part, but the interesting characters and laid back pace save this.
Super Reviewer
-
- Cheyenne: My instincts tell me pedantry is an essential characteristic for capturing Nazis.
-
- Cheyenne: Why is Lady Gaga?
-
- Cheyenne: No, Jane, I'm not trying to find myself. I'm in New Mexico, not India.
-
- 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.
-
- Cheyenne: There's something not quite right about this. I'm not sure what, but something.
-
- Cheyenne: Persistence...and time...thats what wins girls over. It makes them feel safe.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Who is tony? | 31 days ago | 1 |
Latest News on This Must Be The Place
April 12, 2013:
Digital Multiplex: Classic James Bond movies, The Hunger Games and MoreThis week in streaming, we've got enough James Bond movies to have yourself a little 007 marathon, a...
March 15, 2013:
Digital Multiplex: The Hobbit, Smashed and MoreThis week in streaming, we've got Peter Jackson's latest trek to Middle-earth (The Hobbit: An...
March 12, 2013:
RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Life of Pi and Rise of the GuardiansThis week on home video, we've got four new releases that are Certified Fresh, including one...
What's Hot On RT
Movies Directed by Tyler Perry
Blockbuster news and reviews
Ellen Page in an intriguing new thriller
A gallery of classic books on film
Featured on RT
- Total Recall: Movies Directed by Tyler Perry 44
- Parental Guidance: The Great Gatsby, Jack Reacher, and Safe Haven 5
- Video Interview: Aftershock Producer Eli Roth 3
- Ray Harryhausen: 1920-2013 33
- Digital Multiplex: Cloud Atlas, Pulp Fiction and more 4
- RT on DVD and Blu-Ray: Jack Reacher, Mama, and Upstream Color 34
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Iron Man 3 Soars Above the Rest 64
Top Headlines
-
Baz Luhrmann Wants DiCaprio for Hamlet
1
-
Bryan Singer Shooting X-Men: Days of Future Past in 3D and Simul-Cam
0
-
Avatar Sequels Shooting in 2014
2
-
Shane Black Confirmed for Doc Savage
0
-
Warner Bros. Plans New Dungeons & Dragons Movie
4
-
Adam Scott in Talks for Hot Tub Time Machine 2
0
-
Summit Already Thinking About Divergent Sequel
2
Fresh Links
Featured
10 Best Movie Trilogies
Pretty self-explanatory here; HitFix offers up their favorite trilogies of all time.
10 Jilted Movie Grooms
Feeling a little sappy? Here are 10 movie grooms who were left at the altar.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
50 Youth-Gone-Wild Movies
TimeOut lists the best movies about youth and rebellion.
30 Greatest Rock & Roll Movie Moments
Rolling Stone boldly proclaims the rockin'-est moments in cinema.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- Cheyenne - This must be the Place (DE)
- This Must Be the Place (UK)
Cheyenne is a washed up musician who has been out of the game for 20 years but is still famous and recognizable by most. He's kinda hard to not be noticed with his appearance. He has kinda checked out on life too so when the news of his fathers passing comes, who he hasn't seen or spoken to in 30 years, he takes the opportunity to leave Dublin and travel to find his fathers Nazi tormenter.
The movie is one of the better independent films I have seen in a while. I really loved the cast. I enjoyed the music too. It really is one of those films that are only going to be loved by some and hated by others. It takes a certain taste to enjoy this strange yet intriguing story.