Elizabethtown (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
Ah, money. After losing $972,000,000 for his company, Drew (Orlando Bloom), a shoe designer, decides he will commit suicide. However, right before his attempt, his sister intervenes by way of phone call to let him know that their loving father had just died. On the flight back to Elizabethtown (with dad's casket stowed below), he meets Claire (Kirsten Dunst), the flight's stewardess. Will she be able to change his views on life and find a new perspective? 'Elizabethtown', a dramedy written & directed by Cameron Crowe, has moments of lighthearted revelation of the human spirit; but it is way too long & cutesy for my taste.
Fired from his Oregon shoe company, dumped by his girlfriend (Jessica Biel), Drew doesn't have much going for him. Taking his dad, Mitch (Tim Devitt), back to Elizabethtown, Kentucky isn't the 1st thing to remedy his depression, or is it? Claire, being quick-witted and a good listener, is able to somehow bring Drew around and his life starts taking a turn for the better in the days surrounding his father's funeral. Still, nothing is easy back home in Kentucky. He has to deal with his grieving sister (Judy Greer), and his difficult mother (Susan Sarandon), who doesn't get along too well with Mitch's side of the family.
Feeling overwhelmed, Drew calls Claire on her cell phone at pressure moments during the course of his stay in Elizabethtown. Oddly, she brings clarity & meaning to his self-described small existence. Because of his small rejuvenation, he's able to reconnect with various extended family members, and in doing so, fall in love with the town he once knew and understand why his father was so beloved and cherished. And that's your BASIC plot. But there's so much more.
There's extra characters everywhere (a couple of the uncles & aunts take up dead air); too many characters to absorb an emotional sustenance. There's a pointless subplot with one of his cousins (Paul Schneider). And it's these characters and their particular scenarios that get a bit too cute for the good of the film. Some of the dialogue becomes tedious to the point where you just want to say, 'please be quiet'! It's almost self-indulgently sophisticated. And speaking of self-indulgent, you'll either find Susan Sarandon's climactic funeral scene to be hysterical or downright painful to witness (I still don't know what to think).
'Elizabethtown' is so forcedly up, down, left & right that it almost fails. I wish it were A LOT shorter and more focused. The soundtrack of this film is full of great songs, but I almost felt that the movie had more songs in it than actual plotline. Don't get me wrong, the music is good, though it feels like a modern opera. Still, there's enough nuance, personality, and warmth in the movie to go ahead and give it a shot. I lamented when things were sad, I chuckled when appropriate. For a movie that deals with so much (hard lives, death, loss & gaining of love), there's enough lightheartedness & truth to come away with. Memorable movie.
Fired from his Oregon shoe company, dumped by his girlfriend (Jessica Biel), Drew doesn't have much going for him. Taking his dad, Mitch (Tim Devitt), back to Elizabethtown, Kentucky isn't the 1st thing to remedy his depression, or is it? Claire, being quick-witted and a good listener, is able to somehow bring Drew around and his life starts taking a turn for the better in the days surrounding his father's funeral. Still, nothing is easy back home in Kentucky. He has to deal with his grieving sister (Judy Greer), and his difficult mother (Susan Sarandon), who doesn't get along too well with Mitch's side of the family.
Feeling overwhelmed, Drew calls Claire on her cell phone at pressure moments during the course of his stay in Elizabethtown. Oddly, she brings clarity & meaning to his self-described small existence. Because of his small rejuvenation, he's able to reconnect with various extended family members, and in doing so, fall in love with the town he once knew and understand why his father was so beloved and cherished. And that's your BASIC plot. But there's so much more.
There's extra characters everywhere (a couple of the uncles & aunts take up dead air); too many characters to absorb an emotional sustenance. There's a pointless subplot with one of his cousins (Paul Schneider). And it's these characters and their particular scenarios that get a bit too cute for the good of the film. Some of the dialogue becomes tedious to the point where you just want to say, 'please be quiet'! It's almost self-indulgently sophisticated. And speaking of self-indulgent, you'll either find Susan Sarandon's climactic funeral scene to be hysterical or downright painful to witness (I still don't know what to think).
'Elizabethtown' is so forcedly up, down, left & right that it almost fails. I wish it were A LOT shorter and more focused. The soundtrack of this film is full of great songs, but I almost felt that the movie had more songs in it than actual plotline. Don't get me wrong, the music is good, though it feels like a modern opera. Still, there's enough nuance, personality, and warmth in the movie to go ahead and give it a shot. I lamented when things were sad, I chuckled when appropriate. For a movie that deals with so much (hard lives, death, loss & gaining of love), there's enough lightheartedness & truth to come away with. Memorable movie.