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| | Salesrank: 169659
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| Our Price: $39.99 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Elizabethtown has all of the elements of a great Cameron Crowe movie, but none of the Cameron Crowe vision that made Almost Famous work. 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 of Elizabethtown, 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, Elizabethtown is 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
Elizabethtown Reviews:
Lost its focus 
2009-11-09 - Nice and strong for the first 10-15 minutes, but movie lost focus as soon as Bloom's character arrived in Kentucky. What was the movie trying to say? Young man who loved and thought he knew his father discovers facets he never knew, thereby gaining greater perspective and understanding to handle his own problems? Nope, that didn't happen. Young man from big city who had always thought his father's side of the family was corny and strange discovers a strong loving base from which he goes forth into the world once again? Nope, not that either. Young man putzes from scene to disjointed scene wondering why he's there? Yes, that's it!
A few things were very hard for me to get my mind around: why were there no focus groups done on that shoe? How did Susan Sarandon fit all those classes into just three days, and how did it happen that they all started in that exact week that her husband died? How did Kirsten Dunst make that incredibly complex guidebook in just one day? How come Kirsten Dunst kept coming back after she said "We peaked on the phone"??
Bloom and Dunst's hours long phone call bored me, by the way, as did Susan Sarandon's long speech/dance, as did the pointless journey across America. I very much wanted to fast forward but was afraid I'd miss the one little sentence or scene that gave meaning to the movie. Turns out there wasn't one. Go ahead and fast forward through this entire movie. You won't miss anything.
Elizabethtown: A Great Road Trip 
2009-09-12 - Elizabethtown is a so-so movie in many ways, a disappointment considering its knockout cast. However, the latter part of the film is much better than the early part, and the road trip dominates the last quarter of the film is wonderful!
This movie really IS awesome!!! 
2009-08-02 - The first time I saw it i have to admit I didn't like it that much, but I realize that's only because I have HUGE expectations whenever Cameron Crowe releases ANYTHING. Seriously, when is the last time you saw something by CC that wasn't better than the last 10 movies you saw previews for on TV? Cameron Crowe writes and directs like my boyfriend cooks. There's a ton of thought and care and heart that goes into everything he does. My guy is a kick ass cook, but every once in a great while he adds just a little too much salt to something, and it's not as good as the others, but that is just an inevitable part of being a great artist. He still cooks way better than anyone else I know, and Cameron Crowe still managed to cook up a great film with Elizabethtown.
This film just got better and better the more I saw it. I recently borrowed it from the library and it made me feel so good i actually cried a bunch of times. Crowe touches on so many points I could relate to. Losing my father, dealing with a big failure. Ultimately his films are meant to touch people and make them feel better. I felt so inspired and moved after I saw it recently. That flashback scene where his Dad and he are moving into a new house got me bawling.
In the same way my bf occasionally adds too much of something to a recipe, i think this film could have appeared a little better (the first time around anyway) with a little less of a few ingredients. Kirsten Dunst comes across as almost crazy in a few scenes. I really love it how Cameron Crow turns nutty people, who are not afraid to be who they are, into heroes. But Kirsten's character seemed just a little over the edge, the first time I saw it. If they took out the parts where she was taking imaginary pictures of Drew, maybe didn't have her call out "60B" so many times, and one or two other things, and maybe not yell into the microphone that she liked Drew, it would have been more palatable the first time around. But - I have to say, I was fine with it the next time I saw it. Her nuttiness just kind of grew on me in the same way it grew on Drew. And the bottom line is her character displayed what's admirable - a strong, positive spirit that wanted to help Drew through a tough time. Even if things like that don't happen so much in real life - well, that's why we go to see movies. To feel inspired, and feel like there is a chance and a place where these things could happen.
Susan Sarandon's eulogy bit could have also been cut back a little - it seemed a little drawn out. But overall it was still great, and that scene where she's dancing through the light was just amazing.
This still has to be the best film ever made about someone dealing with the loss of their father. The family all getting together and the love that's shown to the kids after it happens - I've felt that. And the awkwardness about meeting all these people you never even knew your Dad knew. The awkwardness of having to choose burial arrangements. And the beauty of suddenly getting to talk to your Dad whenever you like because now he's in an urn right next to you, instead of halfway across the country. Crowe captured all of that, so beautifully. I realized when I watched it last night, I am so grateful that he made this film. I cried several times. I realized it doesn't matter if it all seems realistic or not. There were just so many parts I could relate to, i didn't care if it was 100% perfect or not. At WORST this film is a B+, but the more I see it, the more it's an A.
The scene at the end where Drew realizes it's better to choose life is maybe the most beautifully filmed ending scenes i've ever seen in a movie. And the soundtracks he and Nancy Wilson come up with are always top notch.
Really, this is an awesome film in so many ways. Definitely worth a second or third viewing. Thank you Cameron Crowe for making another great film that inspired me and made my heart feel really big. I am so glad you are a filmmaker.
This movie grows on you 
2009-07-26 - The more I see this movie the more I like it. Not your typical romantic comedy. It has some dark humor but at the same time is sweet and fun.
It make take time to get to like this movie and some of the character's in it, but give it a change and it/they will grow on you.
Something for everyone to love or hate
2009-04-29 - Drew (Bloom) has spent eight years of his young career risking everything on designing a tennis shoe, a shoe that is recalled costing his company almost $1 billion and turning him from an inventive genius to a colossal failure overnight. As he is preparing to commit a ludicrous suicide, his sister calls to inform him his father Mitch has died in Kentucky, and Drew must go get his ashes.
On his flight he meets Claire (Dunst), a perky, pesky flight attendant who drags him into first class, sits down uninvited, and insinuates herself into his life with advice and tips on getting around in Kentucky. Alone in his hotel room after arrival, he calls Claire (for lack of someone else to talk to) and ends up talking with her until morning, which signals the birth of their mutual attraction.
Several themes play out in this movie: Drew's realization that he's a failure and his coming to grips with the loss of his father and his reputation; the tension between his father's Kentucky relations and his mother; and a barely plausible love story between a woman who keeps pushing away a man who won't chase her, so in the end she is forced to throw herself at him. I enjoyed the first two and found the last improbable and tedious.
There were many delightful moments showcasing the richness of humanity: the Kentucky family getting together, the children watching a video, the widow (Sarandon) giving her eulogy, the band playing Free Bird, Drew's allotted five minutes to wallow in misery. These, and the message that failure does not define a person, make the movie worthwhile.
For those who love highly romantic stories that involve all-night cell phone conversations, sunrises, and gifts that no one ever gets outside of Hollywood, you'll love this movie. I enjoyed this movie with its subtle humor despite its flaws because the sweet parts were very sweet.
