Reel Reviews: “Elizabethtown” Rated PG-13, Grade: C-
Written and directed by the acclaimed Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous”) and featuring an all-star cast, you would think that “Elizabethtown” might have the emotional thickness and poignant dialogue to carry a successful film. And this film does have those things, but only in microscopic amounts. Instead of being thick and poignant, “Elizabethtown” ambles slowly along like a meandering road trip, not very eager to grasp substantial meaning.
Orlando Bloom (“Kingdom of Heaven”), who will hopefully keep trying to develop a repertoire of films that branch away from the medieval era, plays the main character. We all know by now that he can wield a sword and shoot arrows gracefully. But can Bloom really act and portray a character with convincing power? “Elizabethtown” does not give us an optimistic answer.
Bloom plays Drew Baylor, your average yuppie who becomes bent on suicide after he loses his job with great humiliation and then loses his girlfriend (Jessica Biel, “Stealth”). Things don’t cheer up for Drew like we would hope. Soon after these debilitating events, Drew receives word about his father’s untimely death. He quickly finds himself returning to his father’s hometown (Can you guess its name?) to prepare tedious funeral arrangements. Along his somber journey, Drew meets a whimsical, overbearing flight attendant named Claire (a surprisingly wonderful Kirsten Dunst, “Wimbledon”) who helps him find direction in more ways than one.
Maybe this film is supposed to be like a coming-of-age film about a young man who learns that there is more to life than professional excellence. I don’t really have a clue what this film’s message is about. There are so many different messages that come out of this story it’s hard to make sense of it all. And the plotlines do so much meandering that it’s even hard to remain engaged with the characters or care about what happens to them.
In addition to Dunst, Susan Sarandon (“Shall We Dance”) also contributes a charming performance as Drew’s sentimental but scatterbrained mother. These few heartfelt performances fail to make this film a memorable one or even an understandable one. Bloom’s performance was mostly made up of vacant facial expressions in long close-ups and experiencing almost every awkward situation imaginable as he reunites with his rural family members. Bloom’s portrayal even helps to make “Elizabethtown” persistently confusing. Is he acting or is he just sitting there feeling genuinely out of his depth? It’s hard to tell.
I get the idea that the film represents the randomness of life’s events. But with so much randomness and such a seemingly disconnected series of events, “Elizabethtown” ends up being a disorganized scrapbook that tries to teach us things we’ve already learned. The tagline for this film is: “It’s a heck of a place to find yourself.” This is painfully true. There are so many superfluous characters and weird moments of regular life that we quickly become lost in this film’s purpose. Having such a jumbled excess will undoubtedly make this film more boring than enjoyable for most viewers.
Casey T. Allen is a movie critic for the Utah Statesman. Comments can be sent to caseyal@cc.usu.edu.