This Must Be the Place

This film has beautiful performances and words - it's the moments that end up holding the most merit. Otherwise, a lot of it is lost on a practical level. For example, I didn't understand most of the characters' relationships on a completely literal level. How were Mary and her mother related to Cheyenne? What did Mary say in the first scene at the mall coffee shop? Between the unintelligible way they spoke and the (refreshing) non-expositional quality of the movie, you just have to take it as it comes. Much of the dialogue is poetic and nuanced, the performances from each actor are strong, and the photography is fun. I found it to be poetic and wonderful despite its befuddling aspects.

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.

I'm a DVD man.Films are my most important relaxation methodology. For me, the whole purpose of a film is to transport me into another reality, even a 'factually historic' film does this, for that reality was never subjectively mine. Occasionally a film comes along that is so incredible in it's ability to 'transform my reality' that it becomes embedded not only in my memory but leaves laser-like traces sparkling in my consciousness.

This was such a film for me.

No spoilers here, but some aspects of the photography are amazing,simply beyond surrealistic,more glowingly minimalistic in their utter magnificence. How the hell can you make a supermarket shopping trip into an adventure journey through a time-warped window of photographic beauty? Watch out for the car at the gas station scene. It's a visually structured scene that hit my eyes with astonishment.

The acting is superb.Yet, that word seems so inadequate to describe Sean Penn's utterly mind-blowing performance. I had to keep reminding myself that this was Sean Penn and these continued reminders simply made his performance all the more brilliant.

In the manner of an 'old Master',Paolo Sorrentino places layer after layer of subtle strokes to compose a mesmerizing work. He takes his time about it, as though each stroke of his brush must be precisely executed so that the whole may be that 'other reality' I seek in my film watching.

If you will watch this then you must prepare yourself to surrender totally into ' it's reality'- I found it well worth the capitulation.

I thought this would be a better movie. The premise is quite interesting and I usually like these artsy dramedies. This one on the other hand tries to be more artsy than it really is.

At first I didn't like how Sean Penn portrayed Cheyenne, but later on in the movie I completely forgot that I was watching Mr. Penn. So I guess the performance is good, and maybe I just didn't find the character to be a very interesting or likable.

This movie is slow, and I don't even mind slow movies. Hell I usually think the slower the better, but this just drags forever. The plot doesn't take off until half way thru and even then it feels like you've already watched this movie for hours.

There's an insane amount of camera trickery, almost every scene uses some camera dolly or crane thing, even if it serves no purpose other than moving the camera around in an "imaginative way". It was really distracting and I didn't find the camera work that fun to look at.

The script leaves a lot of stuff untold. There is talk about people who are seemingly important, but they are never explained who they are and while you have ideas, it's not something you'd like to spend any energy guessing. Some movies make these mind games fun, but here they're just annoying. I noticed myself thinking all the time if I had missed something, but reading at the forums here, I don't think I missed anything. This movie just doesn't inspire you to figure out those loose endings at all.

In the end I gather I just don't like the directors way of making movies. The story is quite interesting, but the way it's told just wasn't my cup of tea.

If you come up with a complicated and quirky plot, there is almost no way to avoid people accusing you of trying too hard to be "indie." The core of this plot is a good one, although it's hampered by throwing too many ingredients in the soup. Hence, like other reviewers, I too will accuse the makers of trying a bit too hard. But I appreciate the originality of the plot.

I've noticed that most small films tend to focus on depressed or outsider type people. I'm guessing that's because the people who make them are that way. But it would be nice once in a while to see a small film about essentially happy people growing in some way, or overcoming an obstacle.

If you took a bunch of drugs, you haven't worked in 20 years, you live in a dreary place, and you're going through a midlife crisis, you would move and talk slowly and perhaps softly. Also, if you were a cross dresser, you might speak with an effeminate voice. So i get all that. But the mumbling aspect was a bit much. Unless you want to interpret that a guy who made millions from his voice, is now crippled in the voice. The mumbling was my biggest complaint. Even if he had cranked it up a tiny notch, I would have been satisfied.

I think the sex scene was put in there specifically to justify why a woman would stay with such a loser for so long. Make no mistake about it. This guy is a loser. His awareness of that fact is the main source of his depression.

What I liked about the plot was the idea of needing a purpose or mission to get yourself out of a funk or grow up. But having his dad be American and orthodox Jewish is a shock to the system. There were no previous references to his even being American, and none about growing up as an orthodox Jew. Wouldn't you see some vestiges of Jewishness at his house, or in his mannerisms or conversation?

As other reviewers mentioned, it was clear that he had no real interest in the Holocaust or his dad's history. He just felt remorse at not giving his father a chance. Couple that with needing a purpose and you have his mission.

Most of the people he interacted with in small town America were not random. They were family members of the Nazi he was hunting or knew something about him. But we did get a little slice of American life in the process. Although here's a tip to non-American indie film enthusiasts. Not all Americans are quirky. Many just work, live, love, pray, volunteer, serve, and laugh.

This guy was always about depression and regrets, but never about rage. So it's no surprise that he had no rage for the Nazi. Another person might have, because although the humiliation he caused his father was relatively mild, he was still involved with slaughter.

I'm OK with the subplots about the woman with a missing son and the Gothic teen. It makes sense. The girl was the type he would have hung out with in his own teens and he was basically stuck at that stage of life. Meanwhile the woman's son apparently skipped town the way our main character had years ago.

I love the Talking Heads song. So I certainly appreciate the idea of building a story around it. "Home, this must be the place." You could say that our protagonist was searching for a home in this world his whole life.