Doing what Sean Penn likes best, acting in indies like no other performer can, he’s latched on to the film This Must Be the Place.  Released in Europe a year ago, it finally makes its way to American movie theaters.  This simple little film should have large appeal to the film festival crowd and those who have a penchant for eccentric comedies.

The film involves a former rock legend Cheyenne (Sean Penn) who’s now retired and living off the continuous flow of money still being earned by the sale of his records.  Dressing in the same stage make-up and clothing style he wore when he performed before millions, his daily trips to town are noticed by Goth chicks who swoon over him. His wife Jane (Frances McDormand) loves the fact that he still lives in the past as she too shared that part of his life.  

Cheyenne has been estranged from his father for over 30 years, mostly because he’s been out chasing Nazis who escaped being caught at the end of WWII.  A prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp he has been searching since his recovery for SS Officer Aloise Lange (Heinz Lieven) to whom he has a personal vendetta.  Cheyenne gets word that his dad is on his death bed and Jane encourages him to go see him before he dies.  Following his funeral he finds himself with a diary containing the notes on Lange and decides to complete the task his father started.

Cheyenne (Sean Penn) and Mary (Eve Hewson) in This Must Be The Place

The film almost gets saved by the creative performance of Penn, but still doesn’t reach the level of his portrayal of Harvey Milk due to the script.  While independent films are Penn’s chance to be ‘himself’ this one feels a little off kilter for the Oscar Winning star.  Although he gives everything he can to his creation of Cheyenne to make his character lovable, interesting and then determined, the direction just isn’t smart enough to help him pull it off.

Cheyenne in an elevator with a younger generation

While Eve Hewson’s Mary earns a good showing, the person she creates has no chemistry with Penn’s Cheyenne.  Dressed as an 80’s rocker herself, her job needs to be strong enough to show how Cheyenne covets the past in which he lives. The attachment just doesn’t work, yet Hewson can’t be blamed for writing and directorial mistakes.

Another downfall for the film inserts the fatal blow:  After 30 years chasing the SS Officer Aloise Lange, Cheyenne’s father has failed. Yet in approximately 20 minutes of film, the worn-out inexperienced, fragile rocker tracks the Nazi to his frozen doorstep.  Add to this the character of Mordecai Midler played by Judd Hirsch, another seeker of Nazi war criminals who has a huge history of bringing many of them to trial, yet has never gotten close to Lange. I’m just saying.

 This Must Be The Place has been rated R by the MPAA for language, some sexual content and brief disturbing images.  The film shows some very graphic Holocaust photos that may be shocking and psychologically upsetting to immature audiences.

FINAL ANALYSIS: A movie that looses in storyline and direction. (D)

Additional Film Information:

• Cast: Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Eve Hewson, Judd Hirsch and Harry Dean Stanton
• Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino
• Genre:     Comedy, Drama
• MPAA Rating: Rated R for language, some sexual content and brief disturbing images
• Running Time: 1 hr 58 min
• Opening Date: November 16, 2012
• Distributed by: The Weinsteen Company