This Must Be The Place

Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Cast: Sean Penn, Eve Hewson, Francis McDormand
Genre: Comedy/Drama 2011
Running Time: 118 mins. 
Rating:★★★★

Cheyenne, a wealthy former rock star (Sean Penn), now bored and jaded in his retirement, with his firefighter wife, Jane (Francis McDormand) in Dublin, embarks on a quest to find his father's persecutor, an ex-Nazi war criminal now hiding out in the U.S. Learning his father is close to death, he travels to New York in the hope of being reconciled with him during his final hours, only to arrive too late. Having been estranged for over 30 years, it is only now in death that he learns the true extent of his father's humiliation in Auschwitz at the hands of former SS Officer Aloise Lange - an event he is determined to avenge. So begins a life-altering journey across the heartland of America to track down and confront his father's nemesis. As his quest unfolds, Cheyenne is reawakened by the people he encounters and his journey is transformed into one of reconciliation and self discovery. As his date with destiny arrives and he tracks down Lange, Cheyenne must finally decide if it is redemption he seeks ....or revenge.

The high contrast of everything and everyone in the beginning grocery store scene, perfectly illustrates how bored Cheyenne has become in his life. Well, that and the granny cart. I don't know if I've ever seen Sean Penn play a character who is so flamboyantly washed out from too many drugs and living in the past that its absolutely fantastic. Francis McDormand, who is just mind-blowingly brilliant anyway, portray an excellent balance to Penn's character. Penn beautifully and subtle takes you in the emotional/psychical transformation and journey to fulfill his late father's goal. To imagine and watch the transformation, Penn's character having lived in a child-like innocence and ignorance to be bombarded with the reality of the Holocaust entrapment that both his father and thousands of other Jews suffered through, is glorious and heartbreaking. Nothing about the film is contrived or forced.

The biggest lesson in the film is it's never to late to live and start over. Better late than never!