Grade: B | Genre: Drama Summary: You don't feel much compassion for Orlando Bloom as Drew and wonder what Claire even sees in the guy. Kirsten Dunst and the cast of characters that make up the residents of Elizabethtown are what really make this film special. There are two types of Cameron Crowe films, "movies that we are completely obsessed with and then the Tom Cruise movies." (IGN) Our first real introduction to the Crowe formula, not including Fast Times At Ridgemont High, was the much-adored Say Anything. If you're a guy, you've considered recreating that iconic radio over the head scene to win over your lady. These days, the best we can borrow from Crowe is to deliver, in our most sincere voices, the "You complete me" line. Gag me. Jerry Maguire was likeable but it worried us into thinking that Crowe left behind the personal screenplays from his inner memoirs for the bankable blockbusters that fizzle shortly after the DVD release. Almost Famous renewed our faith in Crowe's movie making skills until the ambitious but disappointing Vanilla Sky (starring Tom Cruise of course) threw us for a loop. Luckily, our affections for Crowe films weren't completely soured, which is why we have such high hopes for Elizabethtown.

A film about a son coping and reconnecting with his recently deceased father, Elizabethtown is a personal story spilling out of Cameron Crowe's real life experience of losing his own father. Orlando Bloom is Drew Baylor, a hotshot designer who has just produced and marketed one of the biggest "fiascos" in the athletic shoe industry, The Spasmodica. It's "a failure of mythic proportions...one where people will consider returning to bare feet." With damages totaling one billion dollars (if you round up), Drew has lost everything: his job, his girl, and his self-respect. What else is there to do but take yourself out of a world that has already begun nudging you towards the door.

Just as Drew is about the end his life, he receives a call from his sister, Heather (Greer), informing him that their father, Mitchell, has just died. With the news, Drew postpones his suicide to return to his father's home of Elizabethtown in order to tie up loose ends. On the plane trip over, he meets a persistently friendly, but extremely charming flight attendant named Claire (Kirsten Dunst). Filled with genuine sweetness, she could make any obnoxious flaw irresistible. They appear to be the only two on board the flight where Claire decides to give Drew her undivided attention. It's not quite clear what Claire sees in Drew other than a mysterious sadness in his eyes that she can totally read. After landing, she slips him her number and sends him on his way to tend to his father's funeral arrangements.

Upon arriving in Elizabethtown, Drew quickly realizes that Mitch was everyone's best friend, and that this was a man loved and adored. Drew meets an eccentric collection of friends and family, all with stories to tell and love to share. Relatives like Cousin Jessie who once played in a band that opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd, or at least whose band's name appeared at the bottom of the same playlist, round out a likeable and memorable cast. It's city boy meets the country side where Drew is out of his element. The only person he can really turn to for comfort is Claire as both spend the entire night building a relationship over the phone.

Elizabethtown Starring: Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Bruce McGill, Judy Greer, Jessica Biel, Paul Schneider Director: Cameron Crowe View the Trailer (Quicktime) Related Articles A Conversation With Cameron Crowe 'Say Anything' Fun Factoids Can John Cusack Escape Lloyd Dobbler? Email this article to a friend

Elizabethtown is text book Cameron Crowe. You almost feel like he's taking elements that worked in previous films and stuffed them into Elizabethtown. The narration, the close-ups, and of course the music are there. However, you almost feel like Crowe is trying too hard to recreate the honesty that Say Anything or Almost Famous were able to display on film.

Remember that line in Jerry Maguire that came out of nowhere, "We live in a cynical world. A cynical world. And we work in a business of tough competitors," which then takes a u-turn with, "I love you. You... complete me?" Elizabethtown sort of does the same thing, but takes it to the next level. This time around it's a road trip mapped out and scored by Claire for Drew to go on with the cremated ashes of his father. It's a promise from Drew to Claire that he would go on a road trip to get back in tune with the man inside self. It was something that wasn't necessary for the film but yet could have been an interesting film by itself.

Aside from the tangents in the film that only prelong a film ready to end, all in all Elizabethtown is watchable but leaves much to be desired. You don't feel much compassion for Orlando Bloom as Drew and wonder what Claire even sees in the guy. Kirsten Dunst and the cast of characters that make up the residents of Elizabethtown are what really make this film special. You can't keep you eyes off Dunst and feel like her quirky character would have made for a better story. I guess we should have known that Elizabethtown would lack a little something when we saw that Tom Cruise had a part in the film as producer. Check it out for yourself.