What I Watched -- Elizabethtown

Over the weekend, T and I watched Elizabethtown.  I had it, neither of us had seen it, and we were in need of something not at all serious to entertain us while I halfway paid attention for a couple of hours.

Elizabethtown is the story of Drew (Orlando Bloom, who makes a better elf or pirate than love interest) and Claire (Kirsten Dunst, who would be adorable if she weren't for some reason so irritating in this movie).  I have many criticisms.  Two are in the previous sentence, and the third of which is that the movie totally underutilizes its stellar supporting cast.  Susan Sarandon plays Drew's mom, but she's relegated to about three scenes, in one of which she makes a total bumbling fool of herself.  And the whole starting point of this movie is the death of her husband.  Just one or two scenes of heartfelt (or at least well-acted) sorrow would've done wonders (with or without Judy Greer, who plays Drew's sister).  Alec Baldwin has one scene in which he basically plays Jack Donaghy, his character from 30 Rock.  It might've been nice to let him stretch a little. Longtime actor Gailard Sartain also has a bit part.  I know the movie is a love story between Drew and Claire, but at least give the supporting cast something to work with!

Despite those negatives, the movie wasn't actually unlikable.  Unfortunate in life though he seems, Drew had a few funny moments, mostly upon encountering the small-town side of his family. 

As for the aforementioned love story, though I found Claire's overly adorable persona to be a bit much, both Dunst and Bloom at least kept to their characters throughout the film's more outrageous scenes (a fire at the memorial service, being welcomed into a wedding party with open arms).  They do manage one charming, early-relationship, all-night phone call, which is perhaps the most winning scene in the whole film.

The movie is directed by Cameron Crowe, who has such musically-inspired goodness as Say Anything and Almost Famous to his name, as well as documentaries of Tom Petty and Pearl Jam.  The music in Elizabethtown will not disappoint.  It is wide-ranging and generally great; I didn't know nearly all of it, but it always suited the scene and the mood.  The whole thing is capped off with an intricately planned road trip and an ode to the wonders of a good mix of music to go along with it.  A truer point was never made.

Bottom line: listen for the music, watch it only if you have nothing better to do.  (Let's hear it for the mix tape.)