Day 61 -- Elizabethtown

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.]

***

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.

Day 35 -- Ned Kelly

Released: March 26th, 2004

Starring: Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts, Geoffrey Rush

Writer/Director: John Michael McDonagh/Gregor Jordan

Description: You can kill a man but not a legend.

[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.]

***

 It is always interesting to watch a biopic based on a historical figure that I never heard of before. You begin to understand how people outside of America feel when they watch a Revolutionary War film or a Civil War feature. All movies surrounding a historical figure during the 18th and 19th century have the same issue, the man may be a hero in one country and a terrorist in another. The prime example for America is how the Founding Fathers, especially George Washington, are viewed in the States as compared to England.

"Ned Kelly" tells the story of a man born to an immigrant Irish family in Australia. His father, like many Irish in Australia at the time, was shipped to the faraway island to serve a jail sentence, and therefore his family is labeled criminals from that point forward. After Ned is arrested for stealing a horse, and serves three years, he is released and tries to live a normal life. But after a police officer, who wanted Ned's sister as a lover, fabricated events that occurred at the Kelly house, and blames Ned. Thus, setting off the vigilante motives of the Kelly Gang.

There are moments in this movie that are very sleepy. While the action is great, the love story is completely impractical and apparently, completely fabricated for the American audience. And it makes up the majority of uninteresting moments. Not to say Naomi Watts and Heath Ledger had no chemistry, as they very much did, it's was more that there really no reason for Ned to have a lover while on his mission. It felt as added on in the movie as it was in the script.

The odd part of the film, and something I never considered until after the film, was that the action was very U.S. western-esque. This shouldn't surprise anyone since the story takes place around the same time as most westerns. I wonder if the old west we grew up with as Americans was common everywhere, or that's just what all directors want to shoot when there are horses and pistols involved. Either way, the action is well shot, and the ending is quite compelling.

The film's performances are actually better than the story that was told. Heath Ledger was amazing as usual, but I guess it's still to soon for me. I still get sad each time I watch his films, only because of the wasted talent. It's unfair that he cannot make movies, yet Katherine Heigl continues to work. But the standout performance was from Orlando Bloom, who showed for the first time that he could portray an actual character, and not someone from a fantasy world.

"Ned Kelly" is a movie that would probably play better for me if I were an Aussie, just like "The Patriot" wouldn't play the same outside of America. There's nothing inherently wrong with the film, but it didn't reel me in like an emotional movie should. It felt like just another western, except the character had Australian accents.

Rating: 6/10 -- Fans of Ledger and Bloom should see this film, as it is definitely one of their better performances, respectfully. The story of the film is not any different than anything John Wayne made, but I'm sure if Ned Kelly was an American folk-hero, I'd feel differently.