This Must Be The Place Reviews
Knight at the Movies
Penn's Cheyenne is endearing and ultimately a little bit heartbreaking.
Cinemalogue.com
... a fascinating character study that goes beyond simple quirks and mannerisms.
Top CriticWriter-director Paolo Sorrentino handles the story with surprising thoughtfulness.
Austin Chronicle
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
Tampa Bay Times
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
Time Out Chicago
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
RedEye
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
Film-Forward.com
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
One Guy's Opinion
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+
This isn't a great movie, but it is a special one.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
St. Paul Pioneer Press
It's a puzzle, but a fascinating one.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
Film Journal International
Sparked by a nutty but quite wonderful, can't-take-your-eyes-off-him performance by Sean Penn, this unpredictable film carries you along on a wave of surprise and visual beauty.
Reeling Reviews
This film about a Robert Smith-like rocker hunting a Nazi war criminal, while about that, is more about everything but that. Featuring a uniquely endearing performance from Penn...[it] is one of the most unexpectedly delightful films of the year.
Full Review
| Original Score: A-
If the movie doesn't entirely get past its hard-to-buy premise, director Paolo Sorrentino does have the courage of his convictions, not just embracing every contradiction but spinning many of the story's contrivances into moments of strange, aching beauty.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
The plot turns are playful as well as jolting, and the visual shocks are gentle: a bison on the porch, the world's largest pistachio, Mr. Penn in his makeup.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
This mashup of genres and themes doesn't entirely succeed, but it is warm, funny and ably crafted.
Penn is astonishing, creating a funny, guileless waif, infusing a faded celebrity figure with tactility and humor.
