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Elizabethtownhas all of the elements of a great Cameron Crowe movie, but none of the Cameron Crowe vision that madeAlmost Famouswork. It's mostly a series of sweet moments, each capped with the right song at the right time; in fact, the soundtrack is the real star of the movie, and the right song is all there is to piece together a film that is much less than the sum of its parts.
From the start ofElizabethtown, big contrasts are evoked: death and life, success and failure are side by side, so we're told. When the movie starts, Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) is experiencing failure and death in spades: the shoe he spent eight years designing for Mercury (a thinly-veiled copy of Nike) has been recalled, costing his company $972 million dollars. On the verge of a suicide attempt, he learns his father has died, and Drew flies to Kentucky to retrieve the body to Oregon for cremation. On the red-eye to Louisville he meets Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), a perky flight att'ndant with a charming flair for cute lines ("I'm impossible to forget, but I’m hard to remember," she chirps). Once in Elizabethtown, Drew tries to plan a memorial while dealing with relatives who have their own agenda in addition to his manic family back in Oregon, all while facing the reality that in a few days he'll be known nationally as one of his industry's most legendary failures. Yet still he manages to connect with Claire on an all-night cell phone conversation--complete with the requisite watching of the sunrise--and to strike up a furtive romance.
So we now have death and life side by side. But despite these dramatic shifts, what sets up to be a roller coaster ride of a film flattens out to a milquetoast middle ground with no real life of its own. Drew Baylor has suffered two tragic personal losses in the course of one day, but you wouldn't know it from Bloom's lethargic performance. There's not much to Claire either. Her whole character is made up mostly of cutesy quotable lines and mysterious little smirks. In the end,Elizabethtownis a film that doesn't know what it wants to be, and unfortunately there's no payoff, other than a few memorable lines and a great soundtrack. --Dan Vancini
By: peterpanneverneverland Orlando Bloom is a favorite of mine and I loved the movie partly for that reason. It had a unique storyline and great sound track.
Boring and slow I like Orlando Bloom. I like Kirsten Dunst also. This movie was just boring I'm sorry. I disagree with some of the negative reviews blaming the actors. I think it was more the subject matter and the story that just didnt give them anything to do. It was just mind numbingly dull. And there were multiple parts I was sitting there thinking see this could have been completely cut out and nothing would have been lost because nothing happened.
The editing was terrible, way too many things going on and not enough actually happening.A Movie About Real Family and Life I LOVE the movie Elizabethtown! If you want to see a movie portraying a pie-in-the-sky family don't see this one. If you want to see a fast-paced movie don't see this one.
Some people have said Orlando Bloom's acting is flat, or lethargic. Wrong. Orlando has nailed his character once again proving he is a great actor more than just with costumes, swords, bows and arrows. He has just experienced a shocking, mind-blowing event in his life followed by finding out his Dad has just died. Emotion has not surfaced yet. Anyone who has experienced a similar life event can tell you there may not be emotion showing just yet. All that is seen is quietness and shock. His seemingly perfect life is unraveling. Then enters Claire.
Kirsten Dunst is PERFECT for this role and she performs it with spunk and irresistable charm.
The family portrayed in this movie is not perfect. Far from it. They are painfully real. Fathers and sons who don't see eye to eye. Children who are too busy living far away to make it home to see their relatives. Children who misbehave. Chaos and rocky relationships during family gatherings.
There are some words and phrases that could have been completely left out, one "F" word and one story during the funeral about a neighbor; completely pointless and not funny.
Humor is bountiful, the roadtrip is amazing, the tunes are incredible, it stirs the emotions. It was worth paying to see in the theatre and definitely worth buying. Watch it first or watch it with your kids, but not young ones.
Don't miss 60B! See Elizabethtown.The Best in its genre! I am a teenage guy and usually HATE emotional dramas like Where the Heart Is, Hope Floats, and Fried Green Tomatoes. This was an exception. It was the best non-action drama that I have ever seen. The plot is excellent, the characters feel real, ironic humor is abundant, and, best of all, it was decidedly upbeat. It was so upbeat, in fact, that I dare any one to watch this and walk away feeling depressed. It conveys a message of optimism and tells us to look for the good in life, all without ever becoming preach-ey.
A word of warning: This movie is quite off beat at times, especially at the beginning. If you are at all interested in this movie though, don't turn it off. Watch the whole thing, or you will miss out on the incredible final scenes.
The acting by all, especially the leads, is great and proves once-and-for-all that Kirsten Dunst has promising a post-Spiderman career ahead of her.
I recommend this movie to everyone, young and old. Although it's probably not clean enough for kids to watch, it's far cleaner than the average romance movie. I think that just about every age group can enjoy this inspiring, IMHO, masterpiece.
