This Must Be the Place (2011)

How refreshing it is to sit through an inspirational and yet entertaining story. If you fell in love with Sean Pen during the trailer, you will definitely be happy to know that those two hours will not disappoint you.

"This Must be the Place" brings back Penn and his wonderful talent to depict a strange character that doesn't seem to connect with the world around him. It's a delicious journey through the ups and downs of life and the numerous ways of facing them. It's about love and family, courage and determination in searching for what makes sense to you in spite of what people may think. Penn is extraordinarily funny in a simple way, unpretentiously humble and somehow adorable as a man who sees the world differently from everybody else. I had a wonderful time watching this movie, without that feeling of betrayal left by so many deceitful trailers.

Fmovies: Three weeks ago I see the trailer for THIS MUST BE THE PLACE and thought "This looks like a pretty good film I have to see it" I was not disappointed THIS MUST BE THE PLACE was all I thought it was going to be and much more it was a stunning captivating film as a aging rock star Cheyenne (Sean Penn) in a Oscar worthy performance seeks revenge for the sadistic Nazi concentration camp guard that may still be alive who was especially hard on his just deceased father. Cheyenne is a unique interesting character that at times you feel both pity and anger toward at one point in the film he is speaking with a woman and her son where the woman says "Cheyenne once sang with Mick Jagger where he corrects her saying "Actually Mick Jagger once sang with Me" I cannot recommend this film enough go see it the ending is standing ovation worthy.

Good start, confusing middle, dull ending.

Set up was interesting, and you feel that it could lead to something profound. However, it takes off on a random tangent at some point and never regains its focus, or sense of profundity. Many red herrings though, and dead ends.

Sean Penn plays the role he was required to play, but I am not sure I care too much about the character. Decent performances all round though.

Also, as much as I like Talking Heads' "This must be the place", there are just so many versions you can hear, by various artists and actors, before you are irritated by the song...

This Must Be the Place fmovies. This must be the slowest movie I've ever seen, and I was completely fascinated: slowly moving things on screen, a slowly moving camera, a main character who walks and talks slowly, and last but not least, a slowly developing story. In a time when everything has to go faster and faster, this film just takes its time.

Cheyenne as a character could have been created by Tim Burton: a weird, lovable outsider who doesn't seem to belong to this world.

About Sean Penn's mumbling: English is not my first language, but I didn't think it was that bad. For me, it wasn't harder to understand Cheyenne than any of the other characters.

Took me by total surprise. OK, the main character is an aging rock star confronted with the tragedy his estranged father survived. But, really, does it matter that he/she is a rock star between glamor (the lip stick will take us back to Rockie Horror ...), all sort of pains linked to aging, search for well earned comfort and plain boredom (the film reminds us that we may all be at that point -- all the time?)? This wonderfully minimalist film asks quite directly about memory in our own lives. Buried (voluntarily or circumstantially)? showbiz (who gains what from remembering tragedies? or, as the film finally claims, mere distraction (are we not all bored?)? The clash between the Holocaust in Cheyenne's life and his passive determination to refuse to know puts the spectator on the edge for virtually two hours, which the exceptionally precise and surprising camera work only accentuates. Those close ups that summarize a person in two seconds! Those pans on landscapes that translate a entire state! "This must be the place" will remind us that cinema is before all, photography: well organized strings of moving images. And sound track. References to Mike Jagger and images of David Byrne are so, so clever. The fact that Patrick Modiano (please google him) was in the theater when I saw TMBTP at the Arlequin cinema in Paris made the whole experience even stronger. Sean Penn and Frances McDormant are beyond, beyond fabulous (and seemed to truly enjoy acting in it) Thanks to both! I cannot wait to see it again. And again. And....

I really adore this film. I think I saw it 5 times in various cinemas. It is a film about many things, like growing up, leaving the past behind, how parents can scar their children for life and of course about the Holocaust. It is also a sort of a road movie. The topic of the Holocaust is presented in a smart, sophisticated and almost delicate way like I have never seen before. Despite that or maybe because if the delicate approach it is no less effective in recalling the Holocaust than let's say "The Schindler's list". But very different, of course. The film is very well directed and I like the soundtrack as well. The film has a strange, hypnotic flow and rhythm to it, despite being slow in some parts. It can be funny too. The acting is excellent, especially by Penn but not only. Highly recommended.