This Must Be The Place

2012

This Must Be The Place

Critics Consensus

This Must Be the Place may feature too many wayward detours to satisfy some passengers, but Sean Penn's beguiling performance and Paolo Sorrentino's scenic visuals make this a road trip worth following.

66%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 86

58%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 9,541
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This Must Be The Place Photos

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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
  • Rating:
    R (for language, some sexual content and brief disturbing images.)
  • Genre:
    Comedy, Drama
  • Directed By:
    Paolo Sorrentino
  • Written By:
    Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contarello
  • In Theaters:
     wide
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Box Office:
    $142,242
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    The Weinstein Company

Cast

Sean Penn
as Cheyenne
Eve Hewson
as Mary
Frances McDormand
as Jane
Judd Hirsch
as Mordecai Midler
Kerry Condon
as Rachel
Harry Dean Stanton
as Robert Plath
Heinz Lieven
as Aloise Lange
Joyce Van Patten
as Dorothy Shore
David Byrne
as Himself
Olwen Fouéré
as Mary's Mother
Shea Whigham
as Ernie Ray
Liron Levo
as Richard
Simon Delaney
as Jeffrey
Paolo Sorrentino
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Critic Reviews for This Must Be The Place

All Critics (86) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (57) | Rotten (29)

View All Critic Reviews (86)

Audience Reviews for This Must Be The Place

  • May 20, 2016
    Inert and disappointing
    _kelly . Super Reviewer
  • Aug 18, 2014
    Once, Cheyenne(Sean Penn) had been a rock star. Now, he lives retired in semi-inclusion with his firefighter wife Jane(Frances McDormand) in Dublin due to tax reasons. Then, he gets news that his father is seriously ill back in New York. At first, he intends to fly but they cannnot get the altimeter working on the airplane to his satisfaction. So, he takes a cruise ship instead. Which is a whole different level of hell altogether. So far, Paolo Sorrentino has shown a remarkable amount of visual poetry in his films so far. With "This Must Be the Place," he attempts something akin to a plot which is definitely a mixed bag due to it involving a hunt for an ancient Nazi which also allows Judd Hirsch to gnaw on scenery to his heart's content. On the other hand, the movie could be said to be in general about people who are out of sync with time, as illustrated by Sean Penn's off-kilter performance as somebody who is ultra-sensitive to the world around him. But none of that allows the movie to escape Wim Wenders' orbit, road movie division, and not just because the very welcome Harry Dean Stanton puts in an appearance, with David Byrne(who also wrote the music for the film) as the random cameo musician.
    Walter M Super Reviewer
  • Jun 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.
    Greg S Super Reviewer
  • Jun 09, 2013
    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.
    Cameron S Super Reviewer
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