Movie Review: Elizabethtown (2005)

[Dave Gray]

Elizabethtown (2005)

After losing close to a billion dollars for his employer, a young guy returns home to the South to bury his father, where he meets little-seen relatives and a quirky girl on the plane.

Rating: Almost great, but barely good.  (*** out of *****)

This movie, plotwise, is like Garden State.  I kept finding myself not liking certain aspects of the film, and thinking "this would work a lot better if this happened" and each time, it would have made it even more like Garden State.  There were scenes in the film that worked, but the tone for the whole thing was just a bit off.  It didn't know if it wanted to be a comedy or a drama, and it did neither very well.  Still, I found it watchable, and enjoyable, although it felt like a huge missed opportunity.  There were too many other aspects to the film to complicate it, that took away from the regular story, and there were about 10 musical montages (typical for director Cameron Crowe).  Also, Orlando Bloom sucks.  I can't stand to look at him and his chico mustache.  He fought off an accent the entire time, and he couldn't carry the film on his own.  Kirsten Dunst was cute, as always, but their relationship didn't progress believably.

My girlfriend, however, did like it quite a bit.  I rated it 3 stars, but the more I think about it, I'm remembering what went wrong...not what went right.

[crazy_scar_man]

In my opinion, Elizabeth town is one of 2006's best romantic comedy (DVD releases anyway). I'm a big fan of the romantic comedy genre, so this movie was right up my alley. It's second only to Must Love Dogs.

Orlando Bloom was great at Legolas, and despite my reservations, I think he did a good job in this movie. Better than my expectations.

However, he wasn't good enough. The few scenes where it was left solely up to him to move along the story line and draw you deeper into the film, fell a bit short.

Still, overall, I give it a four out of five.

[Dave Gray]

I thought the narration by Bloom was especially awful.  I really can't call this a romantic comedy.  If it's anything comedic, it'd have to be a black comedy.  ...with dramatic elements.

Ah...fuck it -- just do another music montage to fill time.

This was almost a great movie...it needed some subtle changes to the overall tone of the film.  The lead character needed to either be more emotional or more deadpan, but he wavered.  A slight overhaul could've made it work for me.

If you LOVED Garden State, you'll find Elizabethtown moderately entertaining.

[Philly Fin Fan]

I rerally liked this movie. I saw it on the flight home from Los Cabos and really dug it. My wife thought it was so-so, I felt it was better than that. I'll give it 4 stars.

By the way, I've been to Elizabethtown, KY.

[GUATARICCAN]

Hey Dave, you know how I know your gay...........you enjoyed Elizabethtown.