Elizabethtown (2005)

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 | Elizabethtown Kentucky | Suicidal

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 Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | 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:

The fictitious Mercury shoe company is headed by a guy named "Phil DeVoss", it is from Oregon, and it is an athletic shoe company. Nike, an athletic shoe company, was co-founded in Oregon by Phil Knight who later became Nike's CEO and Chairman of the Board.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Drew and Claire are on the phone, he washes and hangs up his socks. A short while later he has the same socks on (yellow and white). Later, he is wearing green socks.

Quotes:

Claire Colburn: [after learning that Drew's father is Mitch] Ah, so you're a son of a Mitch.

Movie Connections:

Features "Mannix" (1967)

Soundtrack:

Summerlong

Worth Seeing on a Sunny Autumn Afternoon

I went into this movie hopeful but not expecting too much, given the poor reviews I had seen for it. I walked out impressed and touched, surprised by how much I really enjoyed it, and wondering if other people would give it a chance and enjoy it, as well. Time will tell.

The things that I liked about this movie are easy to feel but not so easy to describe. There were moments that really got to me, bits of scenes that touched me and caught in my memory, and time and again I found myself nodding and smiling and thinking, "I know exactly how he feels," or "I remember that feeling." Somehow, this story was good in a different way than Garden State was good. I loved Garden State, and the plot of Elizabethtown is enough like Garden State that it was hard not to have it in mind when I sat down in the theatre, but the two movies are really quite different. Crowe's Elizabethtown felt more real than Braf's Garden State, and somewhat less contrived.

Elizabethtown is the kind of movie you should see on a sunny autumn afternoon after a walk with an old friend. It has a joy to it, a basic sense of optimism and a light touch, so that it never crossed the line from sadness into tragedy and melodrama. Crowe doesn't let us fall into sentiment, but he deftly weaves a story that could have been corny and sentimental in lesser hands. I read critics who said he let the music play the emotions for us, but I can't agree, because I think that the cast did an excellent job portraying people I could really feel for and with, especially Orlando Bloom.

Orlando Bloom's Drew Baylor is introduced in a moment of pain and panic, utterly emotionally blocked, repeating "I'm fine" while feeling suicidal and saying "My condolences" to strangers and distant relatives as if the loss of his father belongs to them and not to him. In the film, he relaxes and grows emotionally under the tutelage of Kirsten Dunst's Claire, and together they work their way through the American heartland into a tender relationship and a new perspective on the meaning and value of life and success. His American accent and her Southern drawl might both be a little off at times, but it was easy to forgive in the interest of watching what happened next.

From the side stories of the secondary characters (Susan Sarandon is delightful, as always, in a turn as a widow whose reaction to her husband's death is to reach out and grab life with both hands) to the road trip into Americana, all the quirky little moments that felt real and sincere made this movie one that I enjoyed watching and will think about and remember. I hope you enjoy it, too!