This Must Be The Place Reviews
366weirdmovies
Super Reviewer
June 18, 2013
A retired Goth pop star tracks down a Nazi who oppressed his deceased father. The script is a bit wonky, but Sean Penn has some great moments in a unique against-type role as the effeminate, tormented ex-rocker.
Cameron S
Super Reviewer
June 9, 2013
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.
Meandering and episodic 'This Must Be The Place' is Italian born Paolo Sorrento's first foray into English language cinema and the result is interesting if inconsistent. Playing out as a coming of age/road movie hybrid the story charts aged goth Cheyenne's across America is search of a nazi war criminal responsible for humiliating his father.
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.
LWOODS04
Super Reviewer
November 2, 2012
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.
This Must Be The Place was a strange wonderful film. I loved Cheyenne. I haven't loved a character so much since Hesher. Sean Penn gives out such a great performance in this movie that I forgot that it was him. The story is unique and so interesting. I didn't read what the movie was about. I simply seen Penn all dolled up in make-up and had to see why. So I was really surprised where the story took me.
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.
Nicki M
Super Reviewer
March 30, 2013
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.
Strange little movie (not that I expected otherwise). Sean Penn plays an ageing goth who, due to a tragedy, has not really evolved in life. I am not sure if the film is saying that is a bad thing or not. I have to say, I did not like the ending very much.
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.
Bill D 2007
Super Reviewer
December 6, 2012
With "Il Divo" (winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2008) and now his follow-up, the English-language "This Must be the Place," starring Sean Penn in a performance somewhat inspired by Ozzy Osbourne, you can feel Sorrentino's fearless commitment to his art. I love his single-minded devotion to his art, but I don't think his art is very good.
Sorrentino's work is very high-concept. It sounds good when it's described, but the final product is missing something. As is the case with any high-concept film, the first 30 minutes of "This Must be the Place" are exhilarating, while the viewer is absorbing the concept. But after about 45 minutes, a viewer needs more than a concept.
That's the big difference between shorts and feature films, I'd say. Shorts can exist at the concept level; features must go beyond that. It's like going on a date with someone very good-looking. The first 30 minutes are fantastic because you're still absorbing the beauty. After 30 minutes, your focus shifts to what he or she is saying -- and most of the time you're let down. In most cases, beauty is not enough to carry a 90-minute experience. Neither is concept.
Sorrentino's actors are not so much playing characters as delivering concepts. They're vehicles for the filmmaker's ideas -- sort of hollow. After 30 minutes, the audience needs to feel the insides of the characters to stay interested in them. Sorrentino doesn't go to this level. That's why so far he's not become a great artist for the feature-film medium.
******************************************
Sean Penn here plays a very famous, wealthy, and quirky American rock star, similar in some ways to Ozzy Osbourne. We meet him when he's in retirement, living in a gigantic home with his wife (Frances McDormand) in a remote area of either England or Ireland. He walks around his little town at a glacial pace pulling a shopping cart behind him, like a 90-year-old woman. He seems to move in slow motion, but his mind is sound. In fact, most of his observations are quite acute.
He is constantly decked out in heavy facial make-up, including bright red lipstick, a cross between a drag queen, a goth rocker, and an old woman playing slot machines in a backwoods casino. Seeing Sean Penn in full-tilt gender-bending regalia is quite disorienting -- and very cool. Yet another fearless performance from Penn.
Initially you think the film is going to be a celebration of this kooky character. But halfway through it completely switches gears. Penn's father dies, and he travels alone to New York for the funeral. By way of flashbacks, we learn about his alienation from his Orthodox Jewish family. We also learn that his father was a Holocaust survivor who spent years trying to hunt down a Nazi official who tormented him.
Penn, completely inexplicably, decides to pick up where his father left off and hunt down the Nazi. He teams up with a veteran Nazi hunter (Judd Hirsch), and this odd couple goes out to heartland America to pursue clues to the Nazi's whereabouts. All the while, the soundtrack immerses you in 1980s New Wave music, such as the Talking Heads song, "This Must be the Place," which inexplicably gives the film its title.
Watching Penn's lovable, drug-addled goth drag queen try to toughen up and become a Nazi hunter is amusing. But it's so ridiculous that the film becomes just shallow absurdism. None of it really means anything because Sorrentino just seems interested in making his characters do oddball things. When writers on long-running TV shows run out of ideas, they often "jump the shark," throwing random shock-value elements into the script.
All through the second half of "This Must be the Place," I felt Sorrentino was jumping the shark, trying to be ever more outlandish and put his characters in weirder situations and cultural contexts. Let's put him in an Orthodox synagogue; isn't that funny? Now let's put him in a small town in the Bible Belt talking to Pentecostal Christians. Now let's watch him interact with rednecks and learn to use a gun!
None of it really made sense after a while. Sorrentino probably would say that he never intended the project to "make sense" in the tradition of narrative cinema. ("Stop Making Sense" was after all the title of the Talking Heads' legendary concert movie, and the Talking Heads are a major touchstone for the film.)
I certainly don't think all films have to make sense in the traditional manner. I'm a big champion of the avant-garde. But "This Must be the Place" doesn't work as either a narrative film or an avant-garde one. Sorrentino clearly is a child of the avant-garde, but he also has some major interest in traditional cinema. It seems like he couldn't decide which direction to go in, and he tried to do both. It doesn't come together.
By the end, the Penn character seemed completely unreal to me, and his quest for Nazis ridiculous. It's a little disturbing that the Holocaust theme would be treated so cavalierly, I would also say.
But it also must be stated that there are many things about the film that are engaging and that do work, especially Penn's engaging performance. If I had read a draft of the screenplay, I would have recommended that Sorrentino scrap the Nazi hunting and focus in on this wacky, interesting character.
What must it be like to be super-rich, super-famous, a complete oddball, a hero to millions, and a laughingstock to other millions? Weave flashbacks into the film of the man's childhood. What must it be like to break away so completely from your family's charted path? Does the Jewish aspect alter anything? Do his elders make him feel like a traitor to the Jewish race? Do they call him a Gentile? This is a film I'd like to see, and I'd like to see Sean Penn star in it.
If Sorrentino's response is that he wants to do something more avant-garde, my reply would be a question: What is your avant-garde idea for the project? It doesn't come through in the screenplay. Once you figure that out, then do another draft pushing more firmly in that direction.
I'll give Italy's Paolo Sorrentino one thing: he's got guts. He doesn't care one iota about commercial success or popularity. All he cares about is bringing his artistic vision to the screen.
With "Il Divo" (winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2008) and now his follow-up, the English-language "This Must be the Place," starring Sean Penn in a performance somewhat inspired by Ozzy Osbourne, you can feel Sorrentino's fearless commitment to his art. I love his single-minded devotion to his art, but I don't think his art is very good.
Sorrentino's work is very high-concept. It sounds good when it's described, but the final product is missing something. As is the case with any high-concept film, the first 30 minutes of "This Must be the Place" are exhilarating, while the viewer is absorbing the concept. But after about 45 minutes, a viewer needs more than a concept.
That's the big difference between shorts and feature films, I'd say. Shorts can exist at the concept level; features must go beyond that. It's like going on a date with someone very good-looking. The first 30 minutes are fantastic because you're still absorbing the beauty. After 30 minutes, your focus shifts to what he or she is saying -- and most of the time you're let down. In most cases, beauty is not enough to carry a 90-minute experience. Neither is concept.
Sorrentino's actors are not so much playing characters as delivering concepts. They're vehicles for the filmmaker's ideas -- sort of hollow. After 30 minutes, the audience needs to feel the insides of the characters to stay interested in them. Sorrentino doesn't go to this level. That's why so far he's not become a great artist for the feature-film medium.
******************************************
Sean Penn here plays a very famous, wealthy, and quirky American rock star, similar in some ways to Ozzy Osbourne. We meet him when he's in retirement, living in a gigantic home with his wife (Frances McDormand) in a remote area of either England or Ireland. He walks around his little town at a glacial pace pulling a shopping cart behind him, like a 90-year-old woman. He seems to move in slow motion, but his mind is sound. In fact, most of his observations are quite acute.
He is constantly decked out in heavy facial make-up, including bright red lipstick, a cross between a drag queen, a goth rocker, and an old woman playing slot machines in a backwoods casino. Seeing Sean Penn in full-tilt gender-bending regalia is quite disorienting -- and very cool. Yet another fearless performance from Penn.
Initially you think the film is going to be a celebration of this kooky character. But halfway through it completely switches gears. Penn's father dies, and he travels alone to New York for the funeral. By way of flashbacks, we learn about his alienation from his Orthodox Jewish family. We also learn that his father was a Holocaust survivor who spent years trying to hunt down a Nazi official who tormented him.
Penn, completely inexplicably, decides to pick up where his father left off and hunt down the Nazi. He teams up with a veteran Nazi hunter (Judd Hirsch), and this odd couple goes out to heartland America to pursue clues to the Nazi's whereabouts. All the while, the soundtrack immerses you in 1980s New Wave music, such as the Talking Heads song, "This Must be the Place," which inexplicably gives the film its title.
Watching Penn's lovable, drug-addled goth drag queen try to toughen up and become a Nazi hunter is amusing. But it's so ridiculous that the film becomes just shallow absurdism. None of it really means anything because Sorrentino just seems interested in making his characters do oddball things. When writers on long-running TV shows run out of ideas, they often "jump the shark," throwing random shock-value elements into the script.
All through the second half of "This Must be the Place," I felt Sorrentino was jumping the shark, trying to be ever more outlandish and put his characters in weirder situations and cultural contexts. Let's put him in an Orthodox synagogue; isn't that funny? Now let's put him in a small town in the Bible Belt talking to Pentecostal Christians. Now let's watch him interact with rednecks and learn to use a gun!
None of it really made sense after a while. Sorrentino probably would say that he never intended the project to "make sense" in the tradition of narrative cinema. ("Stop Making Sense" was after all the title of the Talking Heads' legendary concert movie, and the Talking Heads are a major touchstone for the film.)
I certainly don't think all films have to make sense in the traditional manner. I'm a big champion of the avant-garde. But "This Must be the Place" doesn't work as either a narrative film or an avant-garde one. Sorrentino clearly is a child of the avant-garde, but he also has some major interest in traditional cinema. It seems like he couldn't decide which direction to go in, and he tried to do both. It doesn't come together.
By the end, the Penn character seemed completely unreal to me, and his quest for Nazis ridiculous. It's a little disturbing that the Holocaust theme would be treated so cavalierly, I would also say.
But it also must be stated that there are many things about the film that are engaging and that do work, especially Penn's engaging performance. If I had read a draft of the screenplay, I would have recommended that Sorrentino scrap the Nazi hunting and focus in on this wacky, interesting character.
What must it be like to be super-rich, super-famous, a complete oddball, a hero to millions, and a laughingstock to other millions? Weave flashbacks into the film of the man's childhood. What must it be like to break away so completely from your family's charted path? Does the Jewish aspect alter anything? Do his elders make him feel like a traitor to the Jewish race? Do they call him a Gentile? This is a film I'd like to see, and I'd like to see Sean Penn star in it.
If Sorrentino's response is that he wants to do something more avant-garde, my reply would be a question: What is your avant-garde idea for the project? It doesn't come through in the screenplay. Once you figure that out, then do another draft pushing more firmly in that direction.
Emil K
Super Reviewer
September 10, 2012
Things here are not helped by Sean Penn's extremely embarrasing and annoying performance. Maybe he is trying to make somekind of imitation on Ozzy Osbourne or perhaps The Cure's legendary Robert Smith, but whatever his intentions are it feels just another typically method-act from Penn, and it might be one of his weakest to date.
Sorrentino manages to capture some beautiful images with his camera but that certainly does not make an film worthwile to sit through. Part character study, part road-movie and part vigilante-story, This Must Be The Place is so lost structurally that it is impossible to care anything or anybody in this weak film. On paper this film possibly had some potential with it's ambitious ideas but the execution is nonsense and sloppy.
This is one of those awful "odd for the sake oddness" films, which so very hard to be something quirky and hip but only results to shoot at their own leg. Whatever director Paolo Sorrentino is trying to say with his film is not coming through and the end reult is extremely weak an pointless two hours which leads to nowhere.
Things here are not helped by Sean Penn's extremely embarrasing and annoying performance. Maybe he is trying to make somekind of imitation on Ozzy Osbourne or perhaps The Cure's legendary Robert Smith, but whatever his intentions are it feels just another typically method-act from Penn, and it might be one of his weakest to date.
Sorrentino manages to capture some beautiful images with his camera but that certainly does not make an film worthwile to sit through. Part character study, part road-movie and part vigilante-story, This Must Be The Place is so lost structurally that it is impossible to care anything or anybody in this weak film. On paper this film possibly had some potential with it's ambitious ideas but the execution is nonsense and sloppy.
Anthony L
Super Reviewer
August 20, 2012
I loved the characters in This must be the Place, Sean Penn, Judd Hirsch, Harry Dean Stanton and Frances McDormand are all wonderful as their own odd little roles. The cinematography is also exquisite, from Dublin suburbia to the Mexican desert, it all looks beautiful. It's a shame then when the story is a muddled load of nonsense that is poorly structured and bitterly underwhelming. The sound also annoyed me, I had my finger on the volume control throughout the film as it was either too loud or almost silent. I like a quirky film but the story and characters just didn't fit with the pace or style of the film. I can't help but think this film was a huge wasted opportunity, it really does sound better on paper.
Mark W
Super Reviewer
April 27, 2012
Cheyenne (Sean Penn) was once a 80's glam rocker whose life and career came to a halt when two fans committed suicide after listening to his lyrics. He feels a deep sense of responsibility and guilt for the boys' deaths and struggles to get on with his own life. Years after the event, he hides away in Dublin with his understanding wife (Frances McDormand) but when news comes that his father has recently died, he heads back to America. It's here he finds a purpose and reawakening in himself, in hunting down an old Nazi war criminal that his late father had committed his life to finding.
You just need to take one look at Sean Penn - with his straggly black wig and eye make-up - and you'd be forgiven for expecting this film for being some form of a comedy or parody of Glam Rock. It's not. What it is, is an off-kilter little that drama that possesses some real moments of beauty. It probably comes under the umbrella of an art-house road-movie and despite Penn's appearance, he delivers a heartfelt portrayal of a distant, childlike man, suffering from boredom and an unrelieved depression. It's, once again, a reminder of the unique abilities that Penn has as an actor and ranks as one of his best and bravest performances. It's also the catalyst for a lot of this film's believability. Although his character very rarely cracks a smile, this still elicits some genuine laughs with odd behaviour from an eclectic collection of very off-beat characters. As well as "Talking Heads" frontman David Byrne providing the songs and receiving a welcome and effective cameo appearance into the bargain. Harry Dean Stanton popping in late on, doesn't hamper it in any way either. Essentially, the film is about the journey though. Not just the physical, but the psychological and emotional ones as well and cinematographer Luca Bigazzi adds several welcome scenes of surreal beauty on the travels. However, it takes a sharp right-turn with the Nazi sub-plot that doesn't entirely convince and threatens to undo the whole film. It feels a bit disjointed with what came before but as this film plays with conventions, it still seems strangely acceptable.
A poignant and odd little drama about self discovery. It will not appeal to everyone but if you open your mind and your heart, it might just surprise you.
The joy in watching American road-movies tends to be the unexpected and vast array of colourful characters. This English language debut by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is no exception. It has all the hallmarks of the sub-genre and also benefits from a commanding and touching performance from it's lead.
Cheyenne (Sean Penn) was once a 80's glam rocker whose life and career came to a halt when two fans committed suicide after listening to his lyrics. He feels a deep sense of responsibility and guilt for the boys' deaths and struggles to get on with his own life. Years after the event, he hides away in Dublin with his understanding wife (Frances McDormand) but when news comes that his father has recently died, he heads back to America. It's here he finds a purpose and reawakening in himself, in hunting down an old Nazi war criminal that his late father had committed his life to finding.
You just need to take one look at Sean Penn - with his straggly black wig and eye make-up - and you'd be forgiven for expecting this film for being some form of a comedy or parody of Glam Rock. It's not. What it is, is an off-kilter little that drama that possesses some real moments of beauty. It probably comes under the umbrella of an art-house road-movie and despite Penn's appearance, he delivers a heartfelt portrayal of a distant, childlike man, suffering from boredom and an unrelieved depression. It's, once again, a reminder of the unique abilities that Penn has as an actor and ranks as one of his best and bravest performances. It's also the catalyst for a lot of this film's believability. Although his character very rarely cracks a smile, this still elicits some genuine laughs with odd behaviour from an eclectic collection of very off-beat characters. As well as "Talking Heads" frontman David Byrne providing the songs and receiving a welcome and effective cameo appearance into the bargain. Harry Dean Stanton popping in late on, doesn't hamper it in any way either. Essentially, the film is about the journey though. Not just the physical, but the psychological and emotional ones as well and cinematographer Luca Bigazzi adds several welcome scenes of surreal beauty on the travels. However, it takes a sharp right-turn with the Nazi sub-plot that doesn't entirely convince and threatens to undo the whole film. It feels a bit disjointed with what came before but as this film plays with conventions, it still seems strangely acceptable.
A poignant and odd little drama about self discovery. It will not appeal to everyone but if you open your mind and your heart, it might just surprise you.
Saskia D
Super Reviewer
December 24, 2011
I liked the pace and how the movie withholds information or details which it reveals later on.
McDormand was cute as Jane, Cheyenne's wife. She's warm and patient and at first sight an interesting match; what does she see in this man? And do we get to see what she sees?
Good soundtrack.
Sean Penn is one of the most versatile actors there is. I loved him as the eccentric Cheyenne, who's character was definitely inspired by the legendary Ozzy Osbourne. If he isn't, he sure as hell reminded me of him.
I liked the pace and how the movie withholds information or details which it reveals later on.
McDormand was cute as Jane, Cheyenne's wife. She's warm and patient and at first sight an interesting match; what does she see in this man? And do we get to see what she sees?
Good soundtrack.
YodaMasterJedi
Super Reviewer
May 9, 2012
three stars
Carlos M
Super Reviewer
March 23, 2012
A messy movie that throws many narrative elements together without any cohesion, drifting from an odd character study to a hunt-the-nazi road-movie. It is so rambling and disjointed in its structure that it feels pointless - and it has Sean Penn in an extremely tiring performance.
Kevin M
Super Reviewer
May 6, 2013
This Must Be The Place is a calm, easygoing, and strangely amusing movie with a calm, easygoing, and strangely amusing performance from Sean Penn. He's never played a character like this before: Cheyenne, a retired rock star living in Dublin who has a slow and quiet giggle, or snicker, if you will. His journey to find the Nazi officer who humiliated his father, a victim of the Holocaust, is filled with character and meaning. I left the film with the idea that sometimes you need to do things that you're affraid of to bring change and new, exciting things into your life. The soundtrack is great, the performances are great, and it's a film that favors substance over style.
Glenn G
Super Reviewer
November 23, 2012
Sounds kinda awful, and it's easy to feel that way when enduring this quirkfest...but somewhere along the way, I started to go with it, and, against my better judgment, it actually kinda moved me....and I'm not sure why. Penn is actually a bit annoying here, playing a fairly stillborn character who barely moves a muscle and doesn't quite feel connected to anyone. The rest of the cast works miracles to build some chemistry here, with McDormand and Judd Hirsch doing a great job of bringing some genuine excitement to the table.
There's quite a bit of setup here in Ireland, where we watch Penn's character trying to fix up a goth fan with a decidedly unhip mall worker, and I suppose the point of it all is to learn to not judge a book by its cover. The film feels equally random at times when Penn confronts Talking Heads frontman David Byrne (playing himself)...but the genuine terror and emotion in that one scene felt real. For me, this strange and deeply felt film is all about finding your place in life and marking those rare moments where you can make a difference in someone else's. For something so deceptively aimless as this, that's not such a bad premise after all.
This one's a real oddball. Sean Penn plays a former rock star (think Robert Smith from THE CURE), who lives a quiet life in Dublin with his feisty firefighter wife (is there anyone feistier than Frances McDormand) until the death of his father in New York sends his life in an unexpected direction as he sets about looking for a SS War Criminal. With his almost-whispered, ethereal line-readings and goth black wardrobe, Penn looks like something straight out of a Tim Burton film. The gorgeous, precisely framed cinematography here helps hammer that point home as well. Add it all up and you get EDWARD SCISSORHANDS: NAZI HUNTER!
Sounds kinda awful, and it's easy to feel that way when enduring this quirkfest...but somewhere along the way, I started to go with it, and, against my better judgment, it actually kinda moved me....and I'm not sure why. Penn is actually a bit annoying here, playing a fairly stillborn character who barely moves a muscle and doesn't quite feel connected to anyone. The rest of the cast works miracles to build some chemistry here, with McDormand and Judd Hirsch doing a great job of bringing some genuine excitement to the table.
There's quite a bit of setup here in Ireland, where we watch Penn's character trying to fix up a goth fan with a decidedly unhip mall worker, and I suppose the point of it all is to learn to not judge a book by its cover. The film feels equally random at times when Penn confronts Talking Heads frontman David Byrne (playing himself)...but the genuine terror and emotion in that one scene felt real. For me, this strange and deeply felt film is all about finding your place in life and marking those rare moments where you can make a difference in someone else's. For something so deceptively aimless as this, that's not such a bad premise after all.
www.themoviewaffler.com
Super Reviewer
March 25, 2012
Something which irritates many Irish people, myself included, is the fact that "artists" can live here tax free. For this reason we have a disproportionate number of burnt out rock stars and faded thespians living on our island whilst contributing nothing in return. Here Penn plays one such charlatan, a Gavin Friday lookalike rock star who quit twenty years ago when his lyrics influenced two young fans to commit suicide. Returning home to New York for his father's funeral, he becomes embroiled in the hunt for a Nazi war criminal.
Everything about this movie irritated me. Penn is immensely annoying, speaking in a horribly mumbled voice while constantly blowing hair out of his face. Sorrentino seems to have been watching the oeuvre of Wes Anderson on repeat for the last year, every second shot features a character framed dead center staring into a slowly tracking camera. The "quirkiness" of the humour amounts to such comic lines as a rock band being named the "Pieces Of Shit". My oft repeated gripe about unoriginal use of music is given weight here, almost every musical cue will remind you of another film. This must be the twentieth film to feature Arvo Part's "Spiegel Im Spiegel" in the last ten years.
The whole movie feels like a joke whose meaning only those involved in are privy to. Mixing such quirky humour with a holocaust sub-plot feels severely misguided.
If there are two things Italians do well it's food and cinematography. Luca Bigazzi does incredibly good work here and I can honestly say I've never seen Dublin look so good onscreen. It's just a shame my city has to be associated with such pretentious crap.
Penn is at a career worst in this pretentious English language debut by acclaimed Italian director Sorrentino.
Something which irritates many Irish people, myself included, is the fact that "artists" can live here tax free. For this reason we have a disproportionate number of burnt out rock stars and faded thespians living on our island whilst contributing nothing in return. Here Penn plays one such charlatan, a Gavin Friday lookalike rock star who quit twenty years ago when his lyrics influenced two young fans to commit suicide. Returning home to New York for his father's funeral, he becomes embroiled in the hunt for a Nazi war criminal.
Everything about this movie irritated me. Penn is immensely annoying, speaking in a horribly mumbled voice while constantly blowing hair out of his face. Sorrentino seems to have been watching the oeuvre of Wes Anderson on repeat for the last year, every second shot features a character framed dead center staring into a slowly tracking camera. The "quirkiness" of the humour amounts to such comic lines as a rock band being named the "Pieces Of Shit". My oft repeated gripe about unoriginal use of music is given weight here, almost every musical cue will remind you of another film. This must be the twentieth film to feature Arvo Part's "Spiegel Im Spiegel" in the last ten years.
The whole movie feels like a joke whose meaning only those involved in are privy to. Mixing such quirky humour with a holocaust sub-plot feels severely misguided.
If there are two things Italians do well it's food and cinematography. Luca Bigazzi does incredibly good work here and I can honestly say I've never seen Dublin look so good onscreen. It's just a shame my city has to be associated with such pretentious crap.
Cameron W. Johnson
Super Reviewer
February 7, 2013
This film's poster, alone, should firmly tell you that this project isn't likely to make too much sense, but in all honesty, I wasn't really going into this reportedly pretty "Cannes Film Festival entry" entry into the Cannes Film Festival expecting yet another one of the, well, to be frank, stupid, overly bizarre art pieces that stand among the most overrated types of films in the entire film industry, and sure enough, this film isn't as lamely odd as it could have been, yet it's not exactly as down-to-earth as it should have been, all too often getting to be a bit too strange with components to its plot concept and characterization, when not getting to be too disconcertingly offbeat in its story structure. There is pretty much no way the unevenness in this film's script's plotting is accidental, but intentionally messy plotting doesn't always work, as you can definately learn from plenty of avant-garde art films, as well as, to a certain degree, this film, which isn't as all over the place as something like some of the Wim Wenders film it ostensibly wishes it was, but still provides plenty of exposition issues as offshoots to jarring plot happenings, broken up by happenings that we couldn't be yanked away from quickly enough. Okay, maybe that statement is a bit too extreme, as there are plenty of moments in this film, including the gratuitous ones, that entertain just fine, but make no mistake, there are plenty of gratuitous moments in this film, from brief, but bland and recurring moments in which we follow Sean Penn's Cheyenne character doing nothing to the a rather lame soundtrack that is mostly made up of original pieces by David Byrne of Talking Heads (Note that I said, "original", as in introduced through this film, because not even Talking Heads' music is as good as it used to be) and indie singer-songwriter Will Oldham, to plot elements, if not simple filler, that just aren't needed and go all but nowhere. There is a moment which the film presents, through a single tracking shot, Talking Heads performing the titular song, live and pretty much in its entirety, and it's not until the very end of that shot when we find out that it has the slightest bit of relevance to this film's actual story, being a rather superfluous plot note, and from that point on, the film begins to slowly, but surely slip deeper and deeper into excess material, if anything at all in the way of plot, until, after a while, plot focus slips away and leaves the film to dip into the all-out mediocrity that can relatively rarely be found, even in the film's more messily plotted second half, yet plagues this film film as surely as it plagues too many overly avant-garde misfires that the critics, for whatever reason, love to laud at Cannes. Sure, on the whole, the film manages to avoid lapses in focus and, by extension, total mediocrity, a point that, in all fairness, the final product never dips any further beneath, but the film does get carried away in its offbeat artistry, and makes the script's issues all the worse with slowness that is surprisingly not as recurring as I feared, but still present enough to emphasize questionable areas in story structure and dilute full-on genuine emotional punch and engagement value. I'm not asking that this film be a profound dramatic powerhouse, but much in the way of weight to this rather promising story concept goes betrayed by overstylizing in storytelling and much too much dryness in atmosphere, keeping everything lively enough to prevent the slips into mediocrity that claim too many films that are even more overstylized in storytelling and dry in atmosphere, but not proving to be quite as compelling as it could have been and clearly wants to be. Still, if you're looking for one of your better arty Cannes films then, well, you should probably check out the pretty good Terrence Malick films that still could be better, though if you're looking at this film to entertain more than others of its type, then you have indeed found the place, because as slow and actively flawed as this film is, it ultimately stands a decent effort, or at least a handsome visual style piece.
Now, before you cinematography geeks who love to watch overly avant-garde arty films because they are most definately, at the very least, purtty get too excited, Luca Bigazzi doesn't quite deliver on photographic touches that are all that upstandingly remarkable, yet he has moments in which he manipulates lighting and color in a very handsome fashion that compliment something that is consistently impressive about this film's photography: stylishly slick plays with framing and scale in camerawork, which deliver on plenty of unique shots that prove to be quite nifty, especially when really played with during some impressive single tracking shots. Stylistically, this film accels about as much as your usual relatively more plot-driven art pieces, and that's just enough for the final product to stand as, if nothing else, visually appealing, but when it comes to substance, while this film makes its share of storytelling hiccups, both accidental and misguidedly intentional, on the whole, it's easy to gain a reasonably firm grasp on the value of this film's story concept, or at least on the potential for entertainment value within this film that isn't explored quite as thoroughly as it could have been, but still played up quite a bit when focus is found, and brought to life by some colorful writing. The film hits its quiet spells, but is generally quite talkative, and writers Paolo Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello make all of this film's goings on worth sitting through with plenty of dialogue that is quite witty, with color and convincingness that earn your attention, particularly when used as a supplement to this film's generally reasonably effective humor, which amusingly livens up a story that, regardless of what I seemingly say, is structured with its own share of liveliness. Now, with all of my talk about how this film gets carried away with its artistically offbeat storytelling, the final product very often finds itself following a better and more traditionalist plotting path, which isn't so consistently backed by resonance that you're all that compelled, even when the film is at its most focused, but still earns your investment, which goes further sustained by Sorrentino's and Contarello's gracing this film's story with plenty of genuinely refreshing notes, as well as characterization that is, at times, a bit too thin, yet generally fairly inspired, marrying near-satirical wit with genuine flesh-out in a mostly rather comfortable way that gives you an adequate understanding of the substance that drives this film and is further powered by what is done right in Sorrentino's directorial storytelling. Moments of overstylizing in atmosphere establishment, as well as even thin spots in the more focused moments in atmosphere establishment, undercut a bit of the genuineness within the dramatic potential that this film, believe it or not, does boast a reasonably heap of, yet there are still moments in which Paolo Sorrentino, as director, finds even aim with depth and hits, gracing the film with all too brief, yet very much present moments of emotional resonance, or even power, that break up plenty of charism, both from ambition and from bonafide genuineness, within Sorrentino's storytelling, which is, at the very least, spirited enough to charm, not so much so that entertainment value and resonance is played up enough to make the final product truly rewarding, but decidedly enough to keep the film more often than not reasonably entertaining, with color that wouldn't be as potent as it is were it not for Sean Penn. While not with so much material that its portrayer could ever be truly masterful on the whole, this film's lead Cheyenne role proves to be something of a challenge, being conceptually rich with angst in atmosphere and softness in speaking tone that could very easily make for a lifelessly dull, if not just plain bad performance, but, come on, we're talking about Sean Penn here, who isn't given the material to be just plain phenomenal, but turns a performance that was worthy of honorable mentions in 2011, when the film first debuted, and still is in 2012, its official release year, being rather colorfully satirical, but still convincing enough as the angsty goth rocker to almost transform into Cheyenne, who is truly defined when Penn finds those somewhat rare, but worthwhile occasions in which he gets to deliver on powerful emotional range, both broadly spirited and engagingly expressive, that go into making a lead who is about as compelling as he is charming. There's quite a bit to compliment in this film, if not praise, yet there was never to be too much power in this film, whose punch goes diluted further by misguided storytelling moments, but still isn't so drained that you can't stick with the final product, a refreshing and charming comedy-drama that delivers on a reasonable bit of entertainment, even though it could have delivered on more than just that.
In conclusion, the film gets to be a bit too strange, though not as much as it gets to be a bit too offbeat in its story structure, to where misguidedly intentional unevenness in plotting comes in to jerk the film around, if not bloat the film with excess material, if not all-out nothingness, thus creating a repetitious formula that, when intensified by slow spells in atmosphere, render the final product kind of blandly underwhelming, though not as much as it could have been, because as flawed as this film, whether by design or not, is, there's still plenty of slickness to visual style to compliment color that is brought to life by cleverness in Paolo Sorrentino's and Umberto Contarello's script, which also delivers on unique story spots, and colorful characterization that is itself brought to life by the dramatically effective moments and reasonably consistent degree of liveliness within Sorrentino's storytelling, and by the charisma and compelling effectiveness of leading man Sean Penn, to make "This Must Be the Place" a charming effort that is worth a go, though not too terribly worth remembering.
2.5/5 - Fair
Well, if Sean Penn is looking for the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" nostalgia shop, I would have to say that he most definately found it, because as a satire on the glamorous style of old rockers, this film is all but too much of a success, or at least it would be if it wasn't for the fact that this film keeps reminding you that it's not too serious of a "drama". Now, I'm not saying that this film is strange, but it's directed by an Italian, made it to the Cannes Film Festival, and is about Sean Penn as an effeminate goth rock star hunting down a Nazi refugee. Okay, maybe the film isn't quite as crazy as it sounds in broad concept, but make no mistake, this film earns its being named after a Talking Heads song, as it is, like Talking Heads, weird and entertaining, only, unlike Talking Heads, competence is actually consistent in the making of this film (I like Talking Heads just fine, but seriously, thank goodness David Byrne's a reasonably good song writer, because they didn't really have much skill when it came to instrumentality). Shoot, from that description, this film sounds less like a Talking Heads song and more like an improved sequel to, well, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", but either way, what I'm getting at is that you shouldn't go into this film expecting the highly anticipated follow-up to the behemoth masterpiece that is "Almost Famous" just because it's about a rock star and features Frances McDormand. Speaking of which, I must say that it's good to see good ol' Mrs. Joel Coen out and about again, but really, she's been getting so much recent work all of a sudden that I kind of forgot that she was ever missing, so I guess the coolest thing to see with this film is, of course, Sean Penn looking like the ultimate goth rock star satire, even if he does talk so low that you can't hardly hear him. Everyone... who actually keeps up with Italian cinema is going on and on about how this is Paolo Sorrentino's first English-language film, when really, for all we know, Penn is speaking fluent Italian (Hey, Italians can rock, too, I guess), but hey, at least you can gather out of Penn's performance quite a bit of charisma to compliment the film's own charm. Still, regardless of this film's charm, mediocre instrumentality and improvable vocals-I mean, dialogue that's kind of hard to hear (Sorry, I've still got Talking Heads on the brain) is the least of this film's issues.
This film's poster, alone, should firmly tell you that this project isn't likely to make too much sense, but in all honesty, I wasn't really going into this reportedly pretty "Cannes Film Festival entry" entry into the Cannes Film Festival expecting yet another one of the, well, to be frank, stupid, overly bizarre art pieces that stand among the most overrated types of films in the entire film industry, and sure enough, this film isn't as lamely odd as it could have been, yet it's not exactly as down-to-earth as it should have been, all too often getting to be a bit too strange with components to its plot concept and characterization, when not getting to be too disconcertingly offbeat in its story structure. There is pretty much no way the unevenness in this film's script's plotting is accidental, but intentionally messy plotting doesn't always work, as you can definately learn from plenty of avant-garde art films, as well as, to a certain degree, this film, which isn't as all over the place as something like some of the Wim Wenders film it ostensibly wishes it was, but still provides plenty of exposition issues as offshoots to jarring plot happenings, broken up by happenings that we couldn't be yanked away from quickly enough. Okay, maybe that statement is a bit too extreme, as there are plenty of moments in this film, including the gratuitous ones, that entertain just fine, but make no mistake, there are plenty of gratuitous moments in this film, from brief, but bland and recurring moments in which we follow Sean Penn's Cheyenne character doing nothing to the a rather lame soundtrack that is mostly made up of original pieces by David Byrne of Talking Heads (Note that I said, "original", as in introduced through this film, because not even Talking Heads' music is as good as it used to be) and indie singer-songwriter Will Oldham, to plot elements, if not simple filler, that just aren't needed and go all but nowhere. There is a moment which the film presents, through a single tracking shot, Talking Heads performing the titular song, live and pretty much in its entirety, and it's not until the very end of that shot when we find out that it has the slightest bit of relevance to this film's actual story, being a rather superfluous plot note, and from that point on, the film begins to slowly, but surely slip deeper and deeper into excess material, if anything at all in the way of plot, until, after a while, plot focus slips away and leaves the film to dip into the all-out mediocrity that can relatively rarely be found, even in the film's more messily plotted second half, yet plagues this film film as surely as it plagues too many overly avant-garde misfires that the critics, for whatever reason, love to laud at Cannes. Sure, on the whole, the film manages to avoid lapses in focus and, by extension, total mediocrity, a point that, in all fairness, the final product never dips any further beneath, but the film does get carried away in its offbeat artistry, and makes the script's issues all the worse with slowness that is surprisingly not as recurring as I feared, but still present enough to emphasize questionable areas in story structure and dilute full-on genuine emotional punch and engagement value. I'm not asking that this film be a profound dramatic powerhouse, but much in the way of weight to this rather promising story concept goes betrayed by overstylizing in storytelling and much too much dryness in atmosphere, keeping everything lively enough to prevent the slips into mediocrity that claim too many films that are even more overstylized in storytelling and dry in atmosphere, but not proving to be quite as compelling as it could have been and clearly wants to be. Still, if you're looking for one of your better arty Cannes films then, well, you should probably check out the pretty good Terrence Malick films that still could be better, though if you're looking at this film to entertain more than others of its type, then you have indeed found the place, because as slow and actively flawed as this film is, it ultimately stands a decent effort, or at least a handsome visual style piece.
Now, before you cinematography geeks who love to watch overly avant-garde arty films because they are most definately, at the very least, purtty get too excited, Luca Bigazzi doesn't quite deliver on photographic touches that are all that upstandingly remarkable, yet he has moments in which he manipulates lighting and color in a very handsome fashion that compliment something that is consistently impressive about this film's photography: stylishly slick plays with framing and scale in camerawork, which deliver on plenty of unique shots that prove to be quite nifty, especially when really played with during some impressive single tracking shots. Stylistically, this film accels about as much as your usual relatively more plot-driven art pieces, and that's just enough for the final product to stand as, if nothing else, visually appealing, but when it comes to substance, while this film makes its share of storytelling hiccups, both accidental and misguidedly intentional, on the whole, it's easy to gain a reasonably firm grasp on the value of this film's story concept, or at least on the potential for entertainment value within this film that isn't explored quite as thoroughly as it could have been, but still played up quite a bit when focus is found, and brought to life by some colorful writing. The film hits its quiet spells, but is generally quite talkative, and writers Paolo Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello make all of this film's goings on worth sitting through with plenty of dialogue that is quite witty, with color and convincingness that earn your attention, particularly when used as a supplement to this film's generally reasonably effective humor, which amusingly livens up a story that, regardless of what I seemingly say, is structured with its own share of liveliness. Now, with all of my talk about how this film gets carried away with its artistically offbeat storytelling, the final product very often finds itself following a better and more traditionalist plotting path, which isn't so consistently backed by resonance that you're all that compelled, even when the film is at its most focused, but still earns your investment, which goes further sustained by Sorrentino's and Contarello's gracing this film's story with plenty of genuinely refreshing notes, as well as characterization that is, at times, a bit too thin, yet generally fairly inspired, marrying near-satirical wit with genuine flesh-out in a mostly rather comfortable way that gives you an adequate understanding of the substance that drives this film and is further powered by what is done right in Sorrentino's directorial storytelling. Moments of overstylizing in atmosphere establishment, as well as even thin spots in the more focused moments in atmosphere establishment, undercut a bit of the genuineness within the dramatic potential that this film, believe it or not, does boast a reasonably heap of, yet there are still moments in which Paolo Sorrentino, as director, finds even aim with depth and hits, gracing the film with all too brief, yet very much present moments of emotional resonance, or even power, that break up plenty of charism, both from ambition and from bonafide genuineness, within Sorrentino's storytelling, which is, at the very least, spirited enough to charm, not so much so that entertainment value and resonance is played up enough to make the final product truly rewarding, but decidedly enough to keep the film more often than not reasonably entertaining, with color that wouldn't be as potent as it is were it not for Sean Penn. While not with so much material that its portrayer could ever be truly masterful on the whole, this film's lead Cheyenne role proves to be something of a challenge, being conceptually rich with angst in atmosphere and softness in speaking tone that could very easily make for a lifelessly dull, if not just plain bad performance, but, come on, we're talking about Sean Penn here, who isn't given the material to be just plain phenomenal, but turns a performance that was worthy of honorable mentions in 2011, when the film first debuted, and still is in 2012, its official release year, being rather colorfully satirical, but still convincing enough as the angsty goth rocker to almost transform into Cheyenne, who is truly defined when Penn finds those somewhat rare, but worthwhile occasions in which he gets to deliver on powerful emotional range, both broadly spirited and engagingly expressive, that go into making a lead who is about as compelling as he is charming. There's quite a bit to compliment in this film, if not praise, yet there was never to be too much power in this film, whose punch goes diluted further by misguided storytelling moments, but still isn't so drained that you can't stick with the final product, a refreshing and charming comedy-drama that delivers on a reasonable bit of entertainment, even though it could have delivered on more than just that.
In conclusion, the film gets to be a bit too strange, though not as much as it gets to be a bit too offbeat in its story structure, to where misguidedly intentional unevenness in plotting comes in to jerk the film around, if not bloat the film with excess material, if not all-out nothingness, thus creating a repetitious formula that, when intensified by slow spells in atmosphere, render the final product kind of blandly underwhelming, though not as much as it could have been, because as flawed as this film, whether by design or not, is, there's still plenty of slickness to visual style to compliment color that is brought to life by cleverness in Paolo Sorrentino's and Umberto Contarello's script, which also delivers on unique story spots, and colorful characterization that is itself brought to life by the dramatically effective moments and reasonably consistent degree of liveliness within Sorrentino's storytelling, and by the charisma and compelling effectiveness of leading man Sean Penn, to make "This Must Be the Place" a charming effort that is worth a go, though not too terribly worth remembering.
2.5/5 - Fair
Nicolas K
Super Reviewer
May 26, 2013
I think Sorrentino would not have pulled this one off without the involvement of Sean Penn who yet again diversifies his repertoire and like a chameleon he just blends in. Yes it is slow and long, but there is also a fine soundtrack and plenty of food of thought weaved into the storyline.
Daniel P
Super Reviewer
February 13, 2013
Ill-disciplined, episodic and rambling road movie that tries the patience as much as it rewards with occasionally fantastic moments. Sean Penn marvels and irritates in almost equal measure and his chemistry with Frances McDormand is genuinely superb. The music soundtrack is the biggest draw though, rather than the moments of surreal humour which grate as often as they entertain. A mixed bag, but worth a watch.
Hassan V
Super Reviewer
June 14, 2012
This film tries to tackle and present some fascinating themes and ideas from different scales and tries to link it with a really fluid, well shot and lyrical direction. However, this is not enough to balance the different scales of ideas and the whole movie becomes a total inconsistency, from the unbalanced themes to the humour and drama or even the characters and narrative jumps all over the ball. No matter how confident the director feels in crafting individual shots, the final product is not patched together at all well. Still, that said, amongst all its problems there are flashes of real emotion and wit when the balance is hit right, its just a shame that for the most part, it isn't.
Greg A
Super Reviewer
April 4, 2012
The only problem I have with this film is when he takes his make-up off, aside from that I like his character which I see a lot of myself in. He has gone through the stage of being a burned out rocker and has found an inner calm in his later years that makes him a real nice guy to be around, trust in and also not someone who took his father's mission in life lightly after learning what his dad was all about and seeing his life's mission unfulfilled he picked up his reigns and finished his life's work.
