Released: October 14th, 2005
Starring: Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Jessica Biel
Writer/Director: Cameron Crowe
Description: During an outrageous memorial for a Southern patriarch, an unexpected romance blooms between a young woman and man.
[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]
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There is always one thing about a Cameron Crowe movie: the soundtrack is going to fit the movie like a glove. After witnessing a movie like "Deadfall" failing on so many levels, it was nice to see a film that excels at one. Crowe's films immediately draw you in because they always feel so familiar.
"Elizabethtown" is no different. Everything from the score to the choice of quiet rock songs helped to set the tone for this small town in rural Kentucky. The story begins with Drew Baylor (Bloom) on the verge of suicide after his shoe design fails, but before he can off himself, he receives news that his father has died. So he puts off his plans, and goes get his father's body in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and bring him back to Oregon.
Once Drew arrives in Elizabethtown, he learns that the town is as equal parts as bad as his mother thinks it is, and not as bad as she thinks it is. The charming southern town invites him in and tries to persuade him to let them bury his father in their family plot. But behind all of the family background stuff, the film is really about Drew finding himself in an unlikely place with a flight attendant named, Claire (Dunst).
Another thing Crowe does extremely well is create amazing chemistry between the two romantic leads. It also helped that Bloom and Dunst look good together, and don't have many awkward moments. That doesn't mean they were perfect, but the flaws were what made the movie feel realistic. The relationship blossomed perfectly and was really the heart of the movie. When this occurs, it's always a combination of the script and the actors.
A movie like "Elizabethtown" needs that chemistry, along with a likeability from the actors, to be watchable. This isn't just the responsibility of Dunst and Bloom, but the entire supporting cast, and somehow Crowe always finds a way to surround the protagonist with memorable characters. In this film it's Drew's cousin Jesse (Paul Schneider), who gave the movie the right kind of comedic balance.
Dunst is always a tough actress to judge. She can be utterly charming, as she was in this movie, and hard to watch as she was in Marie Antoinette, but all in all she is a pretty good actress. Looking over her filmography, the percentage of good performances to forgettable ones is very high, which was much different than I remembered. Sometimes I think my enjoyment of her films, as shallow as it sounds, depends on how cute she is in the movie, which is why "Spiderman", "Bring it On", and "Virgin Suicides" are always remembered fondly by me despite the quality of the film, and "Crazy/Beautiful" is not. She's very underrated.
"Elizabethtown" is a film that I will watch no matter when it comes on. This is just one of those films that makes you feel good because of the music, especially since it is not as pretentious about it as "High Fidelity". It's also a movie that some people will vehemently dislike, and that understandable because it an evenly paced story that's more character driven then plot driven; some people like structure over good storytelling. This is probably one of the few films that I may be out of step with most, and I don't care. If the ending doesn't draw emotion out of you, then I don't think you're alive.
Rating: 7/10 -- I really enjoyed the storytelling, and feel it's a much deeper movie than people think. Great soundtrack, and great performances from two actor who are underrated. My favorite Cameron Crowe movie.
