Well how to describe a movie after giving its review this title? Those were one of the longest 2 hours in my life when watching a movie. There is absolutely nothing interesting in this one. We have a nice plot, which could have been developed into a beautiful, warm story about family and human relations, but no, we get a slow paced, boring movie, which characters don't reach to us and don't share with us any of their emotions. I enjoyed Crowe's movies, especially Almost Famous and I was totally surprised seeing his name as the director of this movie. I was so disappointed.
This is the story about Drew Baylor and his relations with people in his life. After making a big mistake on his job, he takes a trip to Elizabethtown, his father's birth place, to meet his relatives, as his father passed away. Elizabethtown is a small town in Kentucky, which residents know everything about Drew's father and try to make Drew feel like home. On his way there, Drew meets Claire, the stewardess who helps him find Elizabethtown. And so on and so forth. The story line is so uninventive that I can't really say anything more about it. Instead of that, I will focus on the bad sides of this movie, and there are many.
First, the list of actors in this movie is really not bad. When you have Susan Sarandon you expect at least a decent movie. Judy Greer is a fabulous actress, always a supporting role, but very often one of the best parts of many movies. But they failed here. Or their characters just haven't been that interesting to keep you occupied. I just can't find any good words for Orlando Bloom, whom I find good only with his blond wig and pointy ears. And Kirsten Dunst, although the best character in this movie, is so irritating with her voice and facial expressions that I couldn't accept her in this movie. I wouldn't call her a bad actress, but there is something I don't like about her.
Second, the movie has some really bad attempts to be funny and humorous. The scene with the groom in the hotel, Susan Sarandon's eulogy or Samson, son of Drew's cousin and everything connected to him are all but funny.
Third, the script is really boring and plain and the chemistry between two main actors is missing, although Dunst tried to do something, but couldn't do much having Bloom as her partner.
The only good thing in this movie are the last 20 minutes when Drew decides to take a road trip back to Oregon and follows Claire's instructions. She leads him through USA's secluded places with a great choice of songs and interesting facts about those places.
This is definitely not a romantic movie I would recommend to all of us romantic souls who expect something more than few "funny" lines, a boring development of the plot and one of the most unconvincing love pair ever.
