This Must Be The Place (2011)

Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Written by Paolo Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello
Starring Sean Penn, Judd Hirsch, France McDormand and Eve Hewson

Cheyenne, a retired rock star living off his royalties in Dublin, returns to New York City to find the man responsible for a humiliation suffered by his recently deceased father during W.W.II.

In a role that seems to contradict itself, Sean Penn plays a quiet, mild-tempered former rock star who seems to be trying everything he possible can to not be a cliché. This alone makes for an interesting character, but the filmmakers try to add more, unnecessary elements to make the movie more deep than it needs to be.

The first act is remarkably engrossing. The mannerisms and voice of the character Penn created was an astonishing change from the norm. The study of who this rock star really was after all of the lights and cameras were away and after he grew out of his drug habits was worth making a full-length movie. But they didn't focus on that too long.

In an attempt to make a statement that had already been made in the first five minutes, the writers decided to add the element of a dying Father who was held at Auschwitz during WWII. This played less like a genius twist in the story and more like a cry for an award. The plot had already been set and with the destination not having changed at all, the entire middle forty-five minutes just seemed gratuitous.

Sean Penn gives a killer, toned down performance that rivals many of his other roles. It's just a shame that it is wasted on half of this film. Despite a few technical editing problems (that are more of a personal opinion), I really enjoyed the beginning of this movie. It felt a lot like a Coen Brothers film. But the last half just killed it for me. It was trying to be something it just simply wasn't.

My Rating: 5.5/10

The Hunter (2011)

Directed by Daniel Nettheim
Written by Alice Addison, Wain Fimeri and Daniel Nettheim, based on the novel by Julia Liegh
Starring Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Frances O'Connor and Morgana Davies

Martin, a mercenary, is sent from Europe by a mysterious bio tech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger. A creature thought to have been extinct for nearly 80 years.

On it's surface, this film seems like your typical hunt or be hunted, mercenary thriller. A guy is hired for a job and finds out he is being followed. But at it's core, this is so much more than that. It is also about man and their unjustified desire to control nature and the world, even at the risk of killing off an entire species.

Willem Dafoe is captivating in his performance as a hunter hired to kill the last Tasmanian tiger in existence, if legends are truthful. The entire movie keeps you on the edge of your seat as question after question enters your mind. Will he find the tiger? If so, will he kill it? If not, what will happen to him?

Will Willem Dafoe kick some ass and take some names?

Through archive black and white footage and photographs, the story of the Tasmanian tiger is revealed. Through hunting, the species came to an end. This movie provides you with an intense sadness that these magnificent creatures were killed off for pointless reasons. This was a great movie that surprised me with having more meaning behind it than previously thought. And the cinematography for it was gorgeous. 

My Rating: 7/10