This Must Be the Place
centers around a Robert Smith-like character named Cheyenne (Penn) who is
having trouble functioning in the real world. His wife (McDormand) supports and
loves him every step of the way, but realizes he is a bit stunted when it comes
to maturity. When his father dies, he is forced to leave Dublin, a place he
hasn't left in twenty years, to return to New York and help his family with
some loose ends. From there
Cheyenne goes on a journey of self-discovery, meeting unlikely friends and
learning hot to grow up.
This Must Be the Place stars the
one-and-only Sean Penn, who, much like he always does, takes this character and
makes it his own. Each gesture, breath, movement, and glance---they all serve a
purpose. The wonderful thing about this movie is how open to interpretation it is.
The viewers see relationships between characters that are completely
unexplained, but we soon come to realize that how they know each other is not
important. It's the connections we
make and what we take away from our relationships that are most critical.
We are also shown that our actions
ultimately define how others perceive us.
They make us who we are. It is important to take responsibility for your
actions in life, not just for those around you, but for yourself as well. Admitting you're wrong is never easy. Admitting that there are certain things
in your life that you must eventually grow out of and let go of is even more
difficult. It is something that
Penn's character struggles with in this film, and is something we all
(especially my just-out-of-college generation) can relate to. This is one I would recommend to
anyone. I would have watched the whole thing over again immediately, given the
chance.
This Must Be the Place is playing in the non-competition Premiere category.
