This Must Be The Place (2011) - Paolo Sorrentino

Cheyenne, a former rock star, lives in Dublin, Ireland off his vast fortune.  At 50 years old, Cheyenne still dresses 'goth', with little motivation to do much of anything with his life.  When Cheyenne learns about the death of his father, a man whom he hasn't been on speaking terms with for years, he goes to New York for the funeral where he discovers his father's secret obsession.  His father was desperate to seek out and take revenge on an old Nazi war criminal who brought suffering too many.  This leads Cheyenne to the decision to pick up where his father left off.  Paolo Sorrentino's This Must Be The Place is a quirky character study that is very much buoyed by a fantastic lead performance from Sean Penn.  Cheyenne is a man who is haunted not only by his lack of relationship with his father but also in some of his own past decisions and what ensues is a journey across the Southwest which ultimately brings Cheyenne to a place of peace.  Sean Penn's performance is oddly magnetic and the film takes full advantage with quite a few well timed comedic moments centered around how out of place Cheyenne is both from a physical and mental standpoint.  While This Must Be The Place is amusing, the film is too concerned with being quirky and unique, leading to the film lacking much emotional resonance.  The ending of the film just doesn't feel satisfying, with the film stating many emotional beats but never spending enough time to fully flesh them out.  This led me to simply not have much of an emotional response at the ending or even accept Cheyenne's new-found peace.  This Must Be The Place is worth seeing for Sean Penn's performance alone but its attempt at emotional resonance more so than not falls flat because of its lack of commitment to the characters' more dramatic beats.
6/10

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