Elizabethtown Reviews

Cameron Crowe had so far a rather impressive track-record ('Vanilla Sky', 'Almost Famous', 'Jerry Maguire', 'Singles', 'Say Anything...') and like many viewers, I was really curious to see what would be his next move. Even though I heard here and there that this flick was disappointing, I was still curious about it. Unfortunately, I must admit that it wasn't really good but there were still some enjoyable things about it. Indeed, the directing was actually pretty good, there was a decent cast (Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Jessica Biel) and they all gave some solid performances. I guess, the issue was with the story and the characters involved. Indeed, it tries to be quirky and all but, frankly, I didn't care about what was going on the screen or what the characters were going through. I know that many people would blame Orlando Bloom but I think he was allright. I think the main issue is that the story was not really interesting or entertaining enough in the first place. Then, as an actor, you can do whatever you want, it would still be pretty boring to watch. Still, Cameron Crowe is a talented director and it shows on the screen, and I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in his work.

Has a really cool soundtrack and a really dull plot. Orlando Bloom is a limited actor and Kirsten Dunst is wasted as his sidekick. There are fleeting moments of chemistry between the two but nothing that sustains for the length of the movie. Most of the characters are written with an attempt to make them quirky but all of them come off as ridiculous. The movie rests on Orlando Bloom's inadequate shoulders and he isn't up to it.

Other than the mediocre acting, nothing in this movie made any sense whatsoever. How can one lose a billion dollars on one shoe design? How stupid would the CEO of such a company be? Is it possible to lose a billion dollars on a single shoe design? Every shoe company I know of has dozens of designs at any one time. Why was the airline running a flight with only one passenger? Such a flight would have been cancelled days in advance. Why did Claire send Drew on a meaningless road trip?

Why did I watch this movie?

"There's a difference between a failure and a fiasco. A failure is merely the absence of success. Any fool can achieve failure. But a fiasco, a fiasco is a disaster of epic propotions. A fiasco is a folk tale told to other's to make other people feel more alive because it didn't happen to them."

It has been many years since Cameron Crowe accomplished consecutive mind-blowing success when he wrote and directed 1996's Jerry Maguire and 2000's Almost Famous. However, even with such triumph underneath his belt, his next film Vanilla Sky was met with severe panning from critics and audiences alike. After watching Vanilla Sky I ascertained that Crowe's career was gradually heading downhill and after that film I lost all faith in the man. Needless to say, without any qualms I gave Elizabethtown the dismissive cold shoulder upon theatrical release. Now that I've finally seen the film I can confirm that it is about as bad as I had anticipated, and Crowe's career has undoubtedly sunk to an all-time low.

Successful shoe designer Drew Baylor (Bloom) causes a loss of one billion dollars in his company, and is fired for his mistake as well as being dumped by girlfriend Ellen (Biel). In severe depression and on the verge of suicide, Drew then learns about the sudden death of his father Mitchell who was still residing in Elizabethtown, Kentucky when he suffered a fatal heart attack. Drew is given a whole new perspective on life upon arrival in Elizabethtown with the intention of attending his father's memorial. During his flight to Kentucky he meets quick-witted flight attendant Claire Colburn (Dunst) with whom he gradually falls in love. As his father's dying wishes and funeral plans (including a debate between cremation and burial) are sorted out, Drew's romance with Claire possesses the potentiality to get his life back on track.

Elizabethtown has many strengths; including a myriad of extremely cute moments and some bright humour. Crowe has even filled the movie with worthwhile messages about life. Unfortunately these messages about life are ripe and abundant in many other movies...including films that he has done in the past. The humour is unfortunately buried and exceedingly hard to unearth. Why? Rather simply because the film is boring beyond all comprehension! After the first hour I started losing interest. There is no substance past the first hour. If there is any comedy after this point in the film I didn't spot it. At the end of the day it also seemingly goes on forever!

But I digress to another extensive list of negatives that shamefully detract from the film's overall value. At every point in the film, director Crowe keeps making the film increasingly pretentious and unrealistic. The whole thing is clichéd from the opening few scenes. Even every character is stereotyped. The locals of Kentucky are shown as one-dimensional hicks with absolutely no depth. Then there are the gaping plot holes and anomalies. I mean a billion dollars to launch a new shoe? A widow learning tap-dancing, stand-up comedy, organic cooking and DIY repair in a few weeks? I could go on forever.

At least the cast were a marginal redemption of the otherwise bleak movie. I have never been a fan of Orlando Bloom, nor will I ever become one. It seems he has a knack for starring in cheesy romance flicks ever since his initial success in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now he's just doing sappy stuff like Troy, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. Bloom is at his usual standard here. In this film it sometimes looks like he's acting...now that took a few minutes to sink in. I couldn't believe my eyes!! Dunst is the usual conventional love interest. Her performance is fair. I thought Susan Sarandon was mediocre at best, but her stand-up comedy routine was almost painful.

Overall, Elizabethtown is another weak film from director Cameron Crowe. At the time that this review is being written, Crowe hasn't tackled another project since and he has no plans to. If I ever produced a film like Vanilla Sky, then followed it with this film I would have happily left the film industry.

4.8/10

After Pirates of the Caribbean I think I got a bit obsessed with Orlando Bloom, so I watched this film and I was actually pretty surprised.

Its not just one of those romance movies where it seems interesting for a while and then becomes dull and boring - no, this is completely different. I'm not actually one to watch romance movies, though this was also a comedy as well, so that was probably the main reason I rented it in the first place.

It gave me that good feeling of just enjoying it, watching characters on screen fall in love, I have to admit it was kind of cute. I can't remember ever finding this boring at all.. just perhaps some scenes weren't as exciting as others.

Its entertaining to watch and I'm sure any Orlando Bloom fan would love him in this movie as much as any other. I should really see this again sometime...

This film has about a billion good sequences in it. There's pure comedy genius in the ideas - the shoe, the long telephone call, the family, the video, the urn, the wake, the map...

But alas, it didn't really string together well enough to be a great movie. I found my attention wandering much as the characters seemed to wander from one scene to the next. The sum of the whole was _less_ than the parts.

Okay. Needed more direction.