Elizabethtown (2005)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Cameron Crowe

Writer (WGA):

Cameron Crowe (written by)

Release Date:

14 October 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It's a heck of a place to find yourself

Plot:

During an outrageous memorial for a Southern patriarch, an unexpected romance blooms between a young woman and man.

Plot Keywords:

Kentucky | Flight Attendant | Shoes | Suicidal | Elizabethtown Kentucky

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Orlando Bloom	...	Drew Baylor
Kirsten Dunst	...	Claire Colburn
Susan Sarandon	...	Hollie Baylor
Alec Baldwin	...	Phil Devoss
Bruce McGill	...	Bill Banyon
Judy Greer	...	Heather Baylor
Jessica Biel	...	Ellen Kishmore
Paul Schneider	...	Jessie Baylor
Loudon Wainwright III	...	Uncle Dale (as Loudon Wainwright)
Gailard Sartain	...	Charles Dean
Jed Rees	...	Chuck Hasboro
Paula Deen	...	Aunt Dora
Dan Biggers	...	Uncle Roy
Alice Marie Crowe	...	Aunt Lena
Tim Devitt	...	Mitch Baylor

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and some sexual references.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:15A | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:MG6 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Finland:S | Australia:M | Mexico:B | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Sweden:Btl | Czech Republic:12 | Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41949) | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:12 | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U | Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Anadarko, Oklahoma, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

On Claire's road map for Drew, there is a quote by R. Hammond and J. Bebe. Russell Hammond and Jeff Bebe were two of Stillwater's members in Cameron Crowe's previous film Almost Famous (2000).

Goofs:

Continuity: An exterior shot of Drew's red-eye flight from LA to Nashville shows a Boeing 747 in flight. Later, as Drew is exiting the plane, it is a one-aisled, non-jumbo jet.

Quotes:

Claire Colburn: Do you ever just think I'm fooling everybody?
Drew Baylor: You have no idea.

Movie Connections:

Features Roman Holiday (1953)

Soundtrack:

Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)

I have never seen a film that made me cry after I left the theater, until now.

Cameron Crowe has managed to capture life in a single film. I've never seen a Cameron Crowe film before, so I didn't know he was capable of that. Basic storyline, Drew Baylor has to go to Elizabethtown, Kentucky from his home in Oregon to plan the funeral of his father and meets an interesting young woman, Claire, who helps him feel like he can live again. You see, I have a Southern family, and when I say Southern, I mean deep fried, as in Tennessee and Mississippi. I saw in this film a true Southern family with all of its dysfunctions and with all of its love. Southerners do have a distaste for outsiders, a love of food, and a strange fascination with death, but once they know you, they will take you to their bosom. And Crowe manages to portray Southerners without making fun of them, which is not something a lot of people manage. He juxtaposes a wedding with a funeral and both are big affairs in the south as they should be in life. The last part of the film is a road trip mapped out by Claire (Kirsten Dunst) that Drew (Orlando Bloom) takes with the ashes of his father. He sees the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. And he visits the memorial of the Oklahoma City bombing. I'm going to stop here and say that I am a native born Oklahoman, and I was in the third grade on April 19, 1995. It was nice to know that somebody who is not from Oklahoma remembered, respected, and honored the victims and the survivors of the tragedy in such a way. Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst both give wonderful performances (probably the best of both of their careers) in this film. Dunst is perfect at being sweet, Southern, and mischievous. Bloom is great when he's having his heart-to-heart with his father (who is in an urn) and he's laughing and crying at the same time. This happens in real life a lot, but you rarely see it in movies because so few actors can get to that place emotionally and sell it on screen. Overall, it's a beautiful film. I laughed, I cried, and I fell in love.