Elizabethtown
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
Issue 74 February 2006
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Finding yourself in the middle of nowhere.
The Lowdown: After the death of his father, young businessman Drew Baylor travels back to his hometown for the memorial. He’s re-evaluating life, both because of his bereavement and the fact that he’s just been fired and his girlfriend has dumped him. On the way he meets flight attendant Claire, who may just be able to get his life back on track.
Review: It had to happen one day. After an impressive run of five films that were all good (even Vanilla Sky wasn’t too bad), Cameron Crowe has made a movie that doesn’t quite work. It’s a shame as like Almost Famous it’s a very personal movie. In many ways it’s Crowe’s response to the death of his own father, and that does come through in his script.
It also features many elements that have been huge successes for him in previous movies. Like Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, Drew Baylor gets fired and as a result has to take a close look at what he’s doing with his life. There’s also the slow build up to love that Crowe masterfully handled in Say Anything.
However in Elizabethtown it’s rather like a soufflé that has all the right ingredients but unexpectedly flops. That doesn’t mean it tastes horrific though, it’s just that a filmmaker who we’ve come to expect something unusual and special from, has produced a movie feels rather flat.
Part of the problem is the casting. Apparently Cameron Crowe wrote the part of Drew with Orlando Bloom in mind, but he doesn’t have the presence to really carry a film so reliant on subtle portrayal of male angst. As a result Kirsten Dunst is slightly left hanging. She’s very good at being insanely perky, with an entire Forrest Gump full of wise sayings, but without a strong lead for her to spark off, it doesn’t quite work.
The film is best when dealing with Drew getting caught back up with life in his hometown. Having been away for several years, he’s suddenly thrust back into family life, getting trapped between who he was and who he’s become. With the likes of Susan Sarandon as Drew’s mother, there are no problems with the cast here.
Sadly the movie isn’t backed up with any decent special features. Together the two featurettes and extended scenes only last for 15 minutes and give you just the barest glimpse behind-the-scenes. It is a shame as a stronger package that went further into the film’s genesis and the reasons behind exactly what Crowe was trying to explore in the film, would help with a viewer’s appreciation of the movie enormously. This is necessary because Elizabethtown is almost a great film. It strives towards an intelligence and profundity that’s rare in film, but as it stands it never quite reaches beyond the passable.
FILM: 6
EXTRAS: 3
Disc Info:
Starring: Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, Judy Greer, Jessica Biel, Alec Baldwin
Certificate: 12
Director: Cameron Crowe
Distributor: Paramount
Original Release: 2005
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Visuals: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 118 mins
Price: £19.99
Special Features:
Scene Selection
‘Training Wheels’ Featurette
‘Meet The Crew’ Featurette
Extended Scenes
Photo Gallery
Trailers
