ELIZABETHTOWN

cast :: Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon...
writer :: Cameron Crowe
director :: Cameron Crowe



review date :: 10/18/05
written by :: suj
rating :: 9/10

THE PLOT_________________

After being fired from an athletic shoe company due to the overwhelming failure of his design for a sneaker and the $900+ million loss his company suffered because of the fiasco, Drew Baylor returns to his small Kentucky hometown of Elizabethtown following the death of his father, and meets an unstoppably positive woman along the way.

THE REVIEW_________________

There is something innate about a Cameron Crowe movie and how it affects you, how it moves you, and how it makes you feel. And “Elizabethtown” is a fine example of this notion. Crowe tugs on your emotions swaying them through a carousel of love, laughter, and lost all of which is captured with his adoration for the idiosyncrasies of life. This is a film that is dedicated to acknowledging those fragile strings of connection and embraces you with an instantly recognizable potency of charm. Crowe does all of this with an adoring arsenal of music, indecision, and precise moments of eccentricity.

This is a film about family and one man’s journey to discover the father he never really got to know. The film speaks of personal journeys that many of us can relate to, even if we didn’t consciously recognize it when we step into the theatre or pop the disc into our DVD player. And it’s through Drew Baylor's thoughtful narration where he details his professional hell along with his unwillingness to feel anything and the journey of it all that makes “Elizabethtown” an immediately enjoyable experience.

There’s an intimate and tender relationship in the movie that blossoms between the characters of Drew and Claire, and their abnormally restrained (non)courtship. Orlando Bloom has never really had a role like this. He always plays the swashbuckler or the silent threat, but here Bloom is given the chance to show his talents and he gives off a comprehensive performance that gives Drew the right amount of lost and longing. Kirsten Dunst's Claire is not your typical fantasy/dream girl, but she is mine. Claire is the beautiful quirky dork that has mastered the fine art of masking emotions with goofy, persistent charm and Dunst really captures Claire’s insecurities and excels with the role. There is a moment in the film where Claire is in a bubble bath and after finally getting Drew to admit his attraction to her she gives off a reaction that is just so earnest and unwieldy affectionate that it just makes the character so appealing and so real. I loved that moment and Dunst made me weak in the knees and yearn to meet a girl like Claire.

It's in the films final act that it makes an unexpected move as Drew gets to spend overdue time with his father while taking a literal road trip around the American Midwest. Crowe essentially drops the plot entirely as Drew drives from location to location (scored with detailed mix CDs from Claire), giving the audience a chance to enjoy roadside attractions and landmarks, and allowing Drew his glorious moments of paternal bonding. Throughout the many themes of this movie the most prominent one, for me, is the idea of taking time to smell the roses, and appreciating as many moments as one can. And it’s in this odd but entirely appropriate conclusion, that Crowe embraces you with that theme and makes you feel the warmth and comfort of being in the moment of just enjoying life as it is.

“Elizabethtown” is an irresistibly comfy experience, it’s like reading a book while sitting on a big relaxing couch, or watching your favorite movie with good friends, or listening and singing along to a Journey record at maximum volume. It’s in this kind of familiarity that some might find contempt for the movie, but I say, what’s wrong with allowing yourself to let a movie take you away from your own worries and make you feel better about the world you live in? Kudos to you Cameron Crowe, for once again making me feel what it is to feel.