A retired legendary Goth rocker Cheyenne (Sean Penn) connects with his father too late and decides to track the Nazi war criminal Alois Lange his father was obsessed with tracking for 30 years.  Cheyenne is living in a big house in Dublin, Ireland with his fire fighter wife Jane (Frances McDormand).   He is friends with a teenage Goth girl Mary and he is in depression after blaming himself for two people committing suicide over his music (which is depressing music for depressed people) that he visits their graves on a regular basis.   He is also bored with retirement as he faces his fears of flying and ends up on a boat instead, but he misses connected with his father again (who passes away before Cheyenne gets there).  He goes on a cross country journey in the US to meet with Lange’s wife and Lange’s daughter Rachel in his quest to find and kill Lange without impunity.

 

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE is an odd film if you have seen trailers, but I got the movie I didn’t expect as it is ultimately a road film and a man’s quest to come to terms with his past.   Sean Penn puts off a performance unlike the characters he has played in other films.  He is quiet as Cheyenne who gives off a sadness and nonjudgmental approach to people (he tries to get Mary to hook up with a clean looking young guy).  You expect some ultimate confrontation between Cheyenne and Lange only to have it defy expectations and play out differently.   Sean Penn pulls of the Robert Smith (of The Cure) inspired look quite well and some humor is played off it as people respond to how he looks and how he reacts back to people.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

No extras.  I wish they had a behind-the-scenes featurette or an audio commentary.  Also no option to see the theatrical trailer.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  THIS MUST BE THE PLACE is an interesting road film about redemption and coming to terms with your past.  Too bad the disc has no extras in a film where Sean Penn gives one of his most interesting performances.

 

This DVD review is (c)3-15-2013 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com