Underrated Film of the Week - Elizabethtown

I was considering doing my second weekly underrated film note on something that would have been easier to argue, I ultimately decided to save it for next week and try to argue something a little more tougher to defend. This was a film that I was debating to include as an underrated film, as I’m somewhat bias towards it, but “Elizabethtown“ (2005) is a film that, although full of film clichés and some really strange characters, the film still has some solid heart and sweetness, and a few solid comedic moments, and although not Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, Jerry McGuire, Say Anything)’s best film, it’s better than what the critics gave it, and the failure it made at the box office. Although the film has been compared to Garden State (2005), having not seen Garden State in the last couple years, I’ll try not to discuss parallels to the two works and focus solely on this film.

Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom), a big shot city guy that, after reeling from a losing gamble on a new design for a shoe that costs the company he works for...well the amount is so large you can round it to a Billion dollars, decides to end his life. However, just before he is able to, his sister (Judy Greer) tells him that their father died in his hometown of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, while with his brother. As Drew has to go back to the town to bury his father, the plane ride he meets Claire (Kristen Dunst), a flight attendant whose way to preppy throughout the film, as if she’s an angel or permanently high. When he arrives in the small town, he meets his extended family and his father’s friends, and in the process begins to get to know the father he never had time to see, as well as the charm of the small town, all while falling in love with Claire, whom for some reason her flight attendant job allows her lots of time not actually working.

Aside from the problem with Claire’s character, which may be a fault more with the way it is acted rather than the writing (although the end of the film leads me to be wrong), the pace of the film is somewhat stagnant and slow, with the romance between Claire and Drew only working at some points. Also, although it doesn’t really bother me personally, a lot of people may find the small town charm that the film portrays uninteresting and boring, with a tad of ridiculousness. Again going back to Claire’s character, the reason the romance doesn’t work out is because we never really get a feeling of who she is as a person: no background, no real depth, just constantly chipper and cute and lovable, which makes the romance somewhat unbelievable as I can’t really see what Drew sees in her. Lastly, Jessica Biel seems completely out of place in this film, and although she’s only in the film briefly, she never adds anything to the film.

However, for all that is bad, the good aspects are still prevalent. For starters, the supporting cast is great (Alec Baldwin steals his scene; Susan Sarandon is so perfect in the role of Drew’s mother, with one of the most touching moments in the film during Drew’s father’s funeral where she tap dances to “Moon River”) and almost the entire inhabitants of Elizabethtown fit their roles well. The film really plans on the emotions, especially love and loss; the importance of family; that no matter how small a town is, there is still a sense of community. And when the film throws these filmic clichés into this film, one would expect the final product to be dull and boring, but the strings are played so well that it still hits you. (I defy anyone not to find the road trip montage at the end touching and sweet) The moments where Drew really gets to know his father through moments with his father’s brother and associated townsfolk is just touching enough not to be overdone. Orlando Bloom, although coming off The Lord of the Rings trilogy when this was released and didn’t really have any other films under his belt, does a solid job in the lead role as a young up and coming show designer who goes into the small town roots and really looks like he enjoys it and finds the homeliness of it all, and although the role isn’t exactly a tough job (see him in Kingdom of Heaven for that one, but I’ll save that for another review), Bloom plays it just right. Most important in any Cameron Crowe movie, the music is also an integral factor to what makes the film work, between soundtrack music from everyone to U2 to Elton John, and everywhere in between, every song works perfectly to hit the right emotional beats. The fact that Drew’s father’s funeral takes precedence over the romance subplot between Drew and Claire is what makes the film better than what Cameron Crowe could have sold out too.

Going back to why I’m bias to this film, it came out at the perfect time for me. Just when I got into my own and went to St. Catharines for University (first time I’d really been away from the quiet town of Kirkfield and its surrounding small communities), to me being at Brock, and St. Catharines in general, was big city compared to the tiny City of Kawartha Lakes, which is actually a couple dozen small towns amalgamated. Elizabethtown was one of the first films I saw in theatres after starting University, and the small town charm resonated with me at a time when, although I always resented living in a tiny town, really made me miss what made a small community great. It’s not a great film, but it deserved better than typical romantic fair (to call this a romantic comedy would be misjudging the film, as the comedy in the film is fairly light compared to the romance and drama) and despite its bashing from critics and failure to make any real money (possibly the beginning of producer of this film Tom Cruise [not kidding, he is a credited producer on this film] drive to failure and madness during that year), the flick ultimately hits the right emotional notes, and with that in mind, I’ll give it 3/5 stars, just enough to classify it as underrated. If your looking for something light and sweet, something that will make you smile, give this a rent or a download.

3 Stars out of 5