Movie Review: Elizabethtown

October 14, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton

Tonight Face and I were privileged to catch an advanced
screening for bloggers courtesy of Grace hill Media. We weren’t quite sure what
to expect, but who can turn down a free movie?

The central character of the film is Drew Baylor (Orlando
Bloom). Drew made a shoe that flopped and lost his company, well, if you around
it up about 1 billion dollars. The fiasco inevitably lost him his job in Oregon
and self worth. But just before he commits suicide he receives a call from his sister
that their father had died and it is his job to go to Kentucky to retrieve the
body. On his flight there he meets Clair Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), an eccentric
flight attendant who won’t leave him alone.

The stage is then set for the bulk of the movie- Drew’s
interactions with his family and his love affair with Clair. There is a strong
emphasis on authenticity and community, though it appears that the central
message is to love life well no matter what trials occur.

Surprisingly, most of the movie was hilarious. Perhaps the
greatest strength of the film is that it’s a feel good movie. It leaves you
feeling like you should love life and be a better person. However, it doesn’t
really offer a reason why. You would think in going to Kentucky, religion would
come up at some point in Drew’s large family, but it doesn’t. Clair has some
minor New Age-ish tendencies but that’s about as deep as the spirituality goes.

Some aspects were extremely well-written and creative, but
there were some significant plot holes left unexplained. For example, Clair
says she’s going to Hawaii for work but then randomly shows up at Drew’s hotel.
Wouldn’t her airline have a problem with that? We got to know Drew fairly well,
but after all of that we don’t really know much about Clair or any of the other
characters in the film. Too many of them seem flat. Drew’s mother (Susan Sarandon)
does and says some things that really don’t make any sense.

This might be a good family film except for a few
unnecessary sexual references. Despite the plot and character problems, I would
still recommend the film. Sometimes in spite of all that it’s nice to see a lighthearted
movie that will make you laugh and help you appreciate some of the simple
things in life.