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elizabethtown
Claire Colburn is no Penny Lane. Elizabethtown’s problems are many, many more than that, but that’s one of the most obvious. Kirsten Dunst can snap photos with an invisible camera all day long, and send her hero on as many magical, musical quests as she wants, and she’ll never come close to musedom, which is where Kate Hudson made her home in Almost Famous. I briefly wrote about this movie after I saw it for the first time, and my conclusions haven’t changed much, though I’m inclined to be a little less hard on the movie the second time around. The movie still feels weakest whenever it shines the spotlight on its leading man, which is its biggest problem. If you watch closely, you can catch occasional glimpses of what Cameron Crowe must have seen in Orlando Bloom when he wrote the part for him, but it doesn’t translate consistently to the screen. Bloom is alternately eager and desperate, and this undermines almost every scene he has to carry. There are scenes — not even scenes, just moments — that feel as if they’re lifted directly from Crowe’s ouevre, mainly Jerry Maguire. The thousand-yard stare on Bloom’s face during the launch party for his shoe is Tom Cruise’s teary-eyed relief during the morning-after applause early in Maguire. The cubicle farm that Bloom works in — it’s the sports agency all over again. Bloom’s voiceover narration at the beginning of Elizabethtown captures the same corporate I-have-a-dream flavor. The similarities don’t stop there; once you notice one, they pop out like patterns in ceiling tiles. Crowe disappointed me with this one. I’m a fool for Almost Famous, which, I’ve said before, is the benchmark that I think Crowe hoped to meet with Elizabethtown. He didn’t come close, and worse, it really feels as if he bought into his own hype here. For years Crowe has been widely known as the guy who uses music as effective shorthand; listen to the songs playing in many of his scenes, and they’ll communicate all you need to know about what’s going on, making the performances onscreen so much gravy. It feels like he read a few too many articles about his own musical genius, though; despite the overall goodness of the soundtrack, the movie ends up feeling like a series of strung-together music videos. It comes across as a shamelessly manipulative approach. He’s shooting for a Moment too often here, and that’s not how you make one. About the casting: aside from Bloom and Dunst, there’s more than your usual hit-or-miss acting going on in this movie. Which is weird, because this is another thing Crowe’s always been good at. Alec Baldwin appears early on as the owner of the shoe company Bloom works for. He’s terrific, even if you get the idea that his speeches are just old Dicky Fox lines that were left on the cutting-room floor in Maguire. Jessica Biel’s screen time is thankfully brief, because she’s a piece of driftwood here. Loudon Wainwright is sinfully underused. Susan Sarandon’s difficult to pinpoint, because her character is so underdeveloped that she never really has a chance; her big scene onstage either works or doesn’t, and it all depends on how you fill in the gaps Crowe left in the character. If you’re a Sarandon fan, chances are you’ll like it. I did, even if it didn’t entirely work. Problem is, most of the movie doesn’t work, so it’s really very difficult to appreciate the odd moments that almost do.
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May 25th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Orlando Bloom isn’t believeable as a human being. He is and always will be an arrow-wielding elf.
And Kirsten Dunst’s existence makes me want to puke blueberry pie in massive amounts on everyone.
December 14th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
Elizabethtown is one of the best movies ever made. It is a movie about death that is full of life. The soundtrack(s) are perfect, and the conversations that drew and claire have are the kind that people should have.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:58 am
Liz, get a life.
Elizabethtown is the best movie ever made.
May 7th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Please, even Cameron Crowe wouldn’t say this was the best movie ever made…
June 26th, 2007 at 10:50 am
I rly dislike Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom, but this film was amazing, inspirational :)
September 2nd, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Elizabethtown is such a great movie.. you don’t know what you are talking about
October 25th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Elizabethtown is one of my all time favorite movies. I can honestly say that I don’t care if it’s perfect, cast and plot-wise; I think it works well, and that’s all that matters to me.
It’s also cute as hell, if you’re a fan of Orlando, Kirsten, and Susan.
:)
February 2nd, 2008 at 3:59 am
ja jestem polka nie umiem angielskiego ale uwielbiam filmy z orlando bloomem
June 29th, 2008 at 9:26 am
THIS IS A FANTASTIC FILM AND BLOOM IS SOOOOOO SEXY IN THIS FILM
May 12th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
This is the only movie I have ever watched twice in succession. I was totally blown away by it. Obviously you either “get it” or you don’t, but I think the general critical response says more about critics than about the movie. I’ve noticed that critics are especially attracted to cynicism and this is a movie that OPPOSES cynicism and celebrates positivity and recognizes the persistence, even in 21st century America, of traditional values and love in the community of souls. It’s affectionate, funny, surreal… like an all-night conversation among a bunch of close, caring but clever friends. And…Claire Colburn isn’t some love-lorn loser. She’s far too loveable and desirable ever to be that. She’s young Baylor’s angel and redemptor. And Orlando isn’t defective because he doesn’t put on an ACTORRRRRR grand-style Shakespearean performance. He’s playing a guy who’s shaken, shocked, bemused, confused, disoriented, out of his zone. He plays it EXACTLY as it should be played.