2005 / 123 Minutes / PG-13
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

“Elizabethtown” is all about love and death and looking to the future. It’s about last looks and first kisses and funerals and unruly children. In short, it’s about Life, with a capital “L”. It may very well be director Cameron Crowe’s worst film, but it’s still worth three fists. If anything, that’s a testament to Crowe’s particular genius.

“Elizabethtown” is essentially the story of Drew Baylor. Drew has distanced himself from his family to concentrate on designing a sneaker. This sneaker has been released to great fanfare and hype and the movie begins with several semis filled with these shoes returning to the factory. Drew has orchestrated a massive, billion-dollar failure. Everyone in his office looks at him as though he is a leper. His boss Phil (Alec Baldwin, once again showing up to deliver a stunning cameo as he did in “Glengarry Glen Ross”) tries to be as gentle as possible, but the results are still devastating. The situation obviously demands someone’s head on a platter, and Drew’s head seems to be the perfect fit. Coming in the midst of all this, the death of Drew’s father in a small Kentucky town seems more like a mere annoyance than the life-shattering event it might otherwise have been. Drew has been nominated by his unstable, overcompensating mother (Susan Sarandon) and his insecure sister (Judy Greer) to make the trip to this town and bring his father’s ashes home. On the way, he meets an almost insufferably perky stewardess on a ridiculously empty red-eye flight (she’s played by Kirsten Dunst).

Just from that description, you might be able to see the film’s problem. It’s pulling itself in too many directions. Yet, even with all these threads competing for the viewer’s attention, Crowe has a tendency to make too many scenes wear out their welcome by going on entirely too long. Actually, as I think back on the film, I’d say that pretty much every scene goes on at least one minute too long. Crowe’s strengths have always been in dialogue and character. Admittedly, these are two of my favorite things about most of my favorite movies, and I’ve loved Crowe a long time simply for his craftsmanship with such things. He tends to make emotional, beautifully conceived movies about characters going through emotional crises, though when he brought his distinctive sensibilities to the sci-fi thriller genre with “Vanilla Sky”, I found the result to be an impressive achievement. Still, Cameron’s forte seems to be these nearly existential meditations on life and love. “Elizabethtown” has all the right ingredients to be a film on par with his great work on “Jerry Maguire” and “Almost Famous”, it just doesn’t seem to know exactly how to combine these ingredients, or in what proportions. Some of the dialogue is a bit too cute or schmaltzy (and some of it sounds like nothing an actual human being would ever say) and so are some of the situations. And the road trip at the end goes on too long, has too many points it’s trying to make, and seems a bit preposterous. Susan Sarandon’s big scene also works better in theory than it does in practice. I appreciate what Cameron was trying to convey there, I just don’t think a boner joke and some rambling anecdotes are the proper way to get it done.

“So why the hell are you giving this film such a high grade?” you’re probably wondering right about now. Because, though it is a largely unfocused mess, it’s a clearly heartfelt mess. Cameron makes a lot of good points and has a lot to say, even if he doesn’t say it perfectly (or even exceptionally well). He seems to be working his ass off to make a point here and, even though he isn’t all that successful, he exposes more human truths on accident than most filmmakers do on purpose. There are a lot of moments in this film that will have you nodding your head in emotional recognition. His choices of music for the background of the film aren’t as good as his usual choices (again, the use of a mostly forgotten Elton John tune has more emotional resonance than any of the others, and the choice of one particular U2 song feels just a tad too obvious) but they still fill in a few emotional gaps. He gets legitimately great performances out of Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst (I hadn’t held out much hope for either of them in this, but they won me over…especially Orlando, who finally uses those striking blue eyes as a window into the soul of his character) and uses supporting actors like Paul Schneider, Loudon Wainwright, Gailard Sartain and Bruce McGill to their fullest potential.

It’s sloppy and occasionally frustrating, but it’s still a Cameron Crowe film. I can’t explain exactly what it is about a Crowe film, but when you’re watching one you just get this feeling that you don’t get watching anyone else’s work. I can’t describe that feeling, but if you’re the sort of person who watches “Almost Famous” or “Jerry Maguire” or “Say Anything” with any regularity, I think you know what I’m talking about. The movie’s not great, but “Elizabethtown” is sincere and funny and emotionally honest.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 20th, 2005 at 2:53 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.