Elizabethtown Movie Review:


Just the sight of Susan Sarandon tap dancing at a hilarious memorial for her character’s dead husband makes “Elizabethtown” worth seeing for me. Too bad almost everything else about filmmaker Cameron Crowe’s latest movie misses the mark of greatness by a mere hair’s breadth.

All the elements of a special film – including likeable characters, genuine humor, unexpected romance and matters of life and death -- seem poised to break free here. But they don’t always gel. Still, Crowe (“Almost Famous”) deserves credit for trying. Inspired by his own feelings when his father died, Crowe wanted to make the type of movie his dad liked best. “A movie that could blend tears and laughter. . .that was his favorite combo,” Crowe explains.

While “Elizabethtown” succeeds in evoking a few tears and gentle laughter, blending them causes the most problem for the talented writer/director. The film follows Drew, a young man (Orlando Bloom) on the brink of suicide because of a business fiasco, who receives news of this father’s death and must return to his dad’s hometown for the funeral. On the journey there, he meets Claire (Kirsten Dunst), a beautiful, ultra-optimistic airline attendant who helps change his life forever.

Crowe obviously knows that although a death in the family causes grief and suffering, the loved-one’s relatives can be very funny on such occasions. I think every family must have an amusing funeral story. At our house, we still chuckle about Grandma complaining that Grandpa didn’t look anything like himself lying in his casket in the funeral home, only to find out she was looking at the wrong body. Unfortunately, tying the grief and the fun together requires a delicate process which sometimes goes awry in Elizabethtown – case in point, Drew discovering an “expression he’s never seen before” on the face of father’s corpse.

Playing a romantic couple, Bloom (“Kingdom of Heaven”) and Dunst (“The Cat’s Meow”) look fabulous, and they display an appropriate low-key chemistry when they first meet, one that heats up considerably as they spend more time together. To assist Bloom in preparing for his role, Crowe advised him to study classic relationship movies like “The Apartment” and “The Philadelphia Story.” Bloom claims this homework helped him get into the spirit of the type of film Crowe likes to make. “Movies like that aren’t about the visual effects and explosions – they’re human stories about family, about life, about death,” he declares.

As for Dunst, she certainly appears to enjoy working with Bloom. ““He’s not jaded at all,” she says. “He’s just so easy to be around because he’s a dork like me; neither of us had to try to be cool with each other. It was just so easy.”

“Elizabethtown” features much to admire. It’s an ambitious attempt by Crowe to create something artistic, meaningful and entertaining about bouncing back after failure and grief. Unfortunately, because he dedicated this film to his father, I think it was hard for Crowe to cut some of the scenes that needed trimming, such as Drew’s drawn-out road trip with his father’s ashes. And the wonderful background music sometimes takes over the film like a tail wagging the dog.

Speaking of music, “Elizabethtown” boasts one of the most delightful musical scenes of the year. Yes, you guessed it. It’s Susan Sarandon’s “Moon River” tap dance. Eat your heart out, Napoleon Dynamite!



Betty Jo Tucker

Cameron Crowe's films tend to feel like love letters. And this one's like a big mix tape he made for his father. It's both strongly involving and a bit too clever for its own good.

Drew (Bloom) is an up-and-coming sports-shoe designer who's just lost his company almost $1 billion. Shamed to within an inch of his life, he learns that his father has died, and he needs to travel to Elizabethtown, near Louisville, to sort out the details. On the way, he meets the quirky and chatty flight attendant Claire (Dunst), who kind of refuses to leave his life once she enters. As he gets to know her, he must also come to grips with his extended Kentucky family. And his relationship with his dad.

These aren't exactly new themes for a movie, and Crowe doesn't offer particularly extraordinary insights. The bare bones of the film are extremely basic. It works only because the characters are vivid and well-acted, and Crowe's dialog is sharp and witty. Bloom finally gets a leading role he really fits into, and while layering is still somewhat beyond him, the character is believable and engaging. Dunst is charm personified--intriguing, cute, likeable and smart. And Sarandon gets a few surprisingly strong scenes, even managing to preserve her dignity through a eulogy that turns into a vaudeville routine.

Crowe's script is a bundle of running gags, moving moments and comical tension. His whimsical tone continually catches us off guard, and in this sense the film feels like a companion piece to the more richly textured Almost Famous. There's a sense here that Crowe is trying to cram every possible father-son message into one film, with varying relationships between Drew and his dad, as well as uncles and cousins and their sons. And as it veers into a road trip of self-discovery, it becomes stuck in that movie world where nothing seems remotely authentic. People simply aren't this bright or funny all the time. Events aren't this brilliantly staged. Life doesn't pass by in musical montages. It's a beautifully made film, but as one character observes, "it's something sweet that melts in five minutes".



Rich Cline

Drew Baylor (Bloom) has lost his girlfriend, his job and the company he worked for one billion dollars but just as he thought things couldn’t get any worse his sister Heather (Greer) calls to tell him that his father has passed away. Now he has to put his own problems aside and head to Kentucky to the place of his father’s birth, Elizabethtown. With all the arrangements to see to and his father’s family to deal with, Drew doesn’t really have time to for anything else until he meets airhostess Claire (Dunst).

When Cameron Crowe writes and directors a movie people take notice but can ‘Elizabethtown’ capture the same magic as ‘Jerry Maguire’ and ‘Almost Famous’?

What draws people to Cameron Crowe’s movies is that they are personal stories that you can find some connection with. ‘Elizabethtown’ really plays to his strengths of creating likeable characters and situations that will touch you and make you laugh. As with all his films, he has to have a strong protagonist and the character of Drew just about makes it.

As leading man, the jury is still out on Orlando Bloom. While the British actor is the current flavour of the month in Hollywood, there is no denying that he has acting talent and there is more to him than just his boyish good looks. As Drew both he and Crowe create a leading man that is easy to get behind and like. This is a man who has thrown himself into work only for it to blow up in his face and cause the biggest fiasco in shoe manufacturing history. This pales into insignificance when he gets the news of his father’s death and from then on we are taken on a journey of self-discovery and the realisation that there is more to life than just a job. Orlando does have a bit of a dodgy American accent but this is another important role for him and one that proves he can actually carry a movie.

Stealing the show from the leading man is the leading lady, Kirsten Dunst. As Claire, the airhostess with a heart, she makes a connection with Drew that gives him one really positive thing in his otherwise depressing situation. She is that little voice that pushes him in the right direction and keeps him focused on what he needed to do. Kirsten Dunst is an actress who cannot help but like and she has the talent to make you like her even more.

An excellent supporting cast accompanies our two leads but some of them could have done with a little more screen time and development. Susan Sarandon and Judy Greer are very good as Drew’s mother and sister. Paul Schneider is ex-musician father and Drew’s cousin Jesse, who brings some music and comedy to the proceedings. There are also good performance from Bruce McGill, Alec Baldwin and most of Drew’s extended Kentucky family.

As with all of Cameron Crowe movies, the soundtrack is superb. With contributions from Elton John, Tom Petty, Ryan Adams, The Hollies and many others, the music drives the emotions just as much as what you are watching on screen. Add to this another brilliant score by Nancy Wilson and you have a musical accompaniment that complements and drives the story on.

‘Elizabethtown’ is another fine example of the writing and directing talents of Cameron Crowe. With a story that will touch you and characters that you quickly become involved with, this is a movie that you can’t help enjoying. With his eclectic view on life and drawing from his own experiences to produce a fiction tale, Crowe continues to be a writer/director that you have to take notice of.

Jamie Kelwick

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