This Must Be The Place Reviews

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

"It would take a week mucking out a pork pie factory to acclimatise for a hamfest as nauseating as this."

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5

Penn's Cheyenne is endearing and ultimately a little bit heartbreaking.

Full Review

... a fascinating character study that goes beyond simple quirks and mannerisms.

Full Review

Penn has created a colorful tour guide, but in "This Must Be the Place," there's no there there.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino handles the story with surprising thoughtfulness.

Full Review

Hits some wild notes but never quite finds its niche

Full Review

Sean Penn performs another one of his amazing transmogrification acts as the rock star Cheyenne in This Must Be the Place.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5

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.

Full Review | Original Score: B

The cast ... is outstanding, dragging the offbeat story through the occasional look-at-me distractions.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Adjust to the Oscar winner's deadpan cartoon impersonation, and you may get on the wavelength of this quirkfest.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Immensely entertaining and occasionally very moving.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Although "This Must Be the Place" holds our attention, it's a little difficult to say where it's headed.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

We begin to wonder why Penn even bothered with such a flimsy project in the first place. Let's not stop here very long.

Full Review

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10

If you give Penn (and the movie) a chance, the character works, movingly and somewhat miraculously.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4

The movie replaces emotional precision and intellectual honesty with syrupy sincerity and insistence.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

Less than the sum of its parts.

Full Review | Original Score: C+

In the end, "This Must Be the Place" isn't just bad. It's inappropriate.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4

There's a real touch of magic in both Sorrentino's film and the stately, poised performance by Penn that anchors it.

Full Review | Original Score: B+