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Elizabethtown (2005)
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Movie Review by Seth C 
February 13th, 2006
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When it comes to a Cameron Crowe film, there isn't much I can see that could go wrong. Crowe, my favorite writer and director, has had a constant streak for making films that continue to make me feel inspired and alive. His knack for the perfect tunes to accompany his soundtrack with, not too mention his wife Nancy Wilson's pitch perfect guitar strumming scores always seem to bring his films to a new height. Sometimes the music even helps make the story become more than what it is. Crowe knows that music is the langauge of life and so he embraces that factor and smothers his films with some of the best music ever produced...or at least he makes them sound that way.
As for "Elizabethtown," his latest, sometimes the music is it's only saving grace. The story, from the get-go, seems too fat. It's quite possible tons of scenes and maybe even a few acts could have been slimmed down for time. This film feels like two or three different films all in one, and not in a good way.
The first part of the film is about a failed man, a la "Jerry Maguire," which Crowe has already succeed at bring it us. Sure this film is a little bit different and the Drew character is a little darker than Maguire, but not by much. The second part of the film is it's foundation. The story about a man having to bury his father and finally realizing who his father was, all the while striking up a relationship with a beauful stranger. This IS the film and this is really all the film needed to be. No more was needed. Okay well, maybe a little more was needed, but not exactly the stuff Crowe wanted to force down are throats. And finally the last story in this film is the final act, which consists of a map set to music. This is a brilliant Crowe idea that should have been saved for an entirely other Crowe film.
Still, with all the problems I see in the film, "Elizabethtown" works for me. It does so because of Crowe's ability to create characters none of us will probably ever meet and situation that none of us will probably ever be in. Yet, we still feel completely connected to them. As I said before, Cameron Crowe inspires me and he does so here again with simple images and certain songs that seemed as if they were written for this movie alone. The view of a wife, honoring her husband by softly tapdancing to "Moon River" while a spotlight shines so bright it seems to blind us, and her daughter weeps. The simple memories a son has of his father whether it's as bare as a row of shoes or as meaningful as a road trip never taken, all while being played out to Elton John's "My Father's Gun." These are just carefully placed images that when done right, and done to right music, can plunge a film into the hearts and souls of it's audience. And that's what Crowe does here.
Maybe Crowe didn't knock this one out of the ballpark the way he did with "Say Anything," "Jerry Maguire," "Untitled (Almost Famous)" or even "Vanilla Sky," but there's no doubt it was smacked all the way to the wall. Besides they can't all be home runs, but here's hoping Crowe next swing is.
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