Review of Elizabethtown (2005) by Vinceh. — 01 Nov 2005

I totally agree with Laura Sinagra's "Village Voice" review about this film. It really feels like a collection of ideas, moments, lines, character-quirks, shots, names, etc. that Crowe collected in his journal and then tried to create a plot to include it all.

Because it is Crowe, the romantic stuff works the best and all of it is really well-written and genuinely romantic. The cross-country trip at the end isn't exactly Cusack blaring the boombox or Tom Cruise saying "You Complete me", but it works nonetheless.

If anything, this film proves that it's pretty effortless for Crowe to write this kind of stuff while so many Hollywood hacks try to make a romantic comedy. Only Richard Curtis IMO is as good with character and plot.

Unfortunately, that's the problem - there's too much of it. Crowe tries to stuff in so much in the film, it eventually becomes reductive to its own purpose. There are obviously great ideas here, but we forget about them so quickly because he just keeps throwing stuff at us.

The movie never takes the time to breathe and relax. It is constantly fussy, fast, plot-heavy, etc. The film is over 2 hours and moves very quickly, which is not necessarily a good thing. Note: The performances are very strong, particularly from Orlando Bloom, turning in his best performance by far.

Also great are the always reliable Judy Greer and a hilariously deadpan turn by Alec Baldwin. Overall the performances, strong writing (for the most part), and of course, the music, make this a film that you won't feel terrible spending $10 on.