Elizabethtown (2005)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I sat with my wife and watched this wonderful film till past midnight. I want to praise the screenplay writer/director, Cameron Crowe, for a fantastic and unique achievement. Also, the casting agency that had chosen wisely and smartly for all the actors signed up for this film, a real success. Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, what a great choice to play these two lovely young persons! We totally enjoyed this film, not one moment bored since I never felt sleepy or even yawned once after midnight; a proof how good this film is.

A movie with some touching moments, but not really "8/10 great". What makes it special for me though, is that the role of Claire Colburn offers the exact mixture of charm and emotional ride between sadness to joy, that is perfect for Kirsten Dunst.

This film is a mess. Which I am sad to say as I am a huge fan of the works of Cameron Crowe. How this fits into the Crowe canon, after such gems as Vanilla Sky, Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire, does not sit well with me. It feels more like the muddled work of a filmmaker still honing his craft.The screenplay is muddled and unconvincing. It seems unable to decide whether it wants to be a romantic comedy, an absurd comedy or a black comedy. Despite the best efforts of two very charming lead actors, Kristen Dunst and Orlando Bloom. Dunst's character 'Claire' is less 'charming' and more a terrifying crazy pushy desperate ex-girlfriend type. Bloom's 'Drew' is a beige, muddled, boring, self-absorbed slob.There is a silly, unconvincing premise involving a ridiculous pair of sneakers designed by Bloom's character for his company headed by an eccentric 'Elon Musk' type billionaire played by Alec Baldwin. The sneakers are an epic failure and have cost the company a $1B loss. The sneakers, along with Drew's comical suicide attempt, look as silly as this premise and setup this film poorly from the start.This could have been a heart-felt, warm, funny tale of two lost souls finding meaning through each-other, but it tries to be so many things it ends up failing at all of them.The soundtrack (and Cameron Crowe has such wonderful taste in music, I am as much a fan of his soundtracks as his (other) films) is another example of how messy this film is. 35-different tracks are credited on IMDb it feels like a badly made mix-tape, (which is precisely how most of these songs are incorporated into the script). With some heavy editing from the 2-hour length down to a more palatable 90-minutes it might be a passable film. Cut out Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon's distracting and meaningless roles. Cut out Claire's crazy, and try and inject some small semblance of worth into Drew. If either of the main characters were even slightly more likable, the film would be equally more likable.

Elizabethtown starts out with Drew getting fired from his job because of his design of a shoe that turns out to be flawed (basically destroying the company he works for), and his current girlfriend ends their relationship (typical). He ends up almost committing suicide, but fortunately that doesn't happen, and he goes to Elizabethtown because his father passed away. On the way to Elizabethtown he meets outgoing and adventurous stewardess Claire, who bumps him up to first class and in turn they develop a friendship that eventually leads to a romance. Drew brings his father's favourite blue suit with him as requested but much to everyone's chagrin he has his father cremated according to his mother's wishes, and tries to recant, but by then it is too late. Drew ends up going on a road trip adventure (which is probably why I love this movie so much) which heals his heart.