My initial thought in choosing to watch this movie was, "It's Orlando Bloom!" My concluding thought after watching this movie was, "He can actually act!" Keep in mind, the disastrous Troy had come out in 2004, and the world was beginning to wonder--could Orly do anything other than shoot an arrow and go stabby stab with a sword? YES HE COULD.
His character is Drew Baylor, an ambitious upstart who single-handedly costs his company millions of dollars by designing a severely flawed shoe. In the midst of his pathetically unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide, Drew learns that his father has died. His mission? To represent his small, Oregonian family offshoot to the rest of the clan and fetch his father's body back from Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Lack of original score and wide shots aside, this film flies under the radar as one that is modest in scope but substantially epic in meaning. Any film can deal with death, but not every film can mix the perfect cocktail of humor and genuine pain. Elizabethtown takes the unorthodox approach to such serious themes as suicide, death, failure, and ostracism by uncovering the whimsy and passion that can permeate it all.
The thing I love about this movie is that it brings together the many aspects of life in a much more truthful manner than is typical. It tends to avoid clichés when possible (though I can hardly fault them for playing up the motif of Southern hospitality)--the film prefers to explore the inherent humor of duct-taping a knife to your exercise bike rather than dwelling on its potentially disastrous consequences; a widow who throws herself into a flurry of activity after her husband's recent demise is allowed to be applauded instead of pitied; a lovelorn flight attendant posits that sometimes unlucky moments are the result of wearing unlucky clothes.
There are so many moments in this movie that validate the experience of the real person over that of the patented Hollywood experience: you don't necessarily cry picturesque, exquisite tears upon hearing your father has died--it takes time for them to come, and sometimes they are interspersed with giggles and snot. My advice: watch this movie with an open mind, because Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst showcase their ability to tap into the heartbeat of the human condition. This movie might not hit you on every level as soon as you see it, but give it time. It was very healing during some rough moments in my life, and my guess is that it will surprise you, too.
The thing I love about this movie is that it brings together the many aspects of life in a much more truthful manner than is typical. It tends to avoid clichés when possible (though I can hardly fault them for playing up the motif of Southern hospitality)--the film prefers to explore the inherent humor of duct-taping a knife to your exercise bike rather than dwelling on its potentially disastrous consequences; a widow who throws herself into a flurry of activity after her husband's recent demise is allowed to be applauded instead of pitied; a lovelorn flight attendant posits that sometimes unlucky moments are the result of wearing unlucky clothes.
There are so many moments in this movie that validate the experience of the real person over that of the patented Hollywood experience: you don't necessarily cry picturesque, exquisite tears upon hearing your father has died--it takes time for them to come, and sometimes they are interspersed with giggles and snot. My advice: watch this movie with an open mind, because Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst showcase their ability to tap into the heartbeat of the human condition. This movie might not hit you on every level as soon as you see it, but give it time. It was very healing during some rough moments in my life, and my guess is that it will surprise you, too.
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