Paradise Reel

Elizabethtown

It was with much anticipation when I bought the tickets to this movie. I had heard a lot of comments flying about after the film’s debut at the Cannes Film Festival and some of them are not appropriate to repeat. I had to give this film a chance besides, it featured two of the hottest rising stars in Hollywood, Orlando Bloom (”Lord of the Rings Trilogy” and Pirates of the Caribbean”) and the lovely Kirsten Dunst (”Spiderman” and “Wimbeldon”). Furthermore, this film is directed by Cameron Crowe (”Jerry Maguire” and “Vanilla Sky”) who brought us the whimsical coming-of -age story, “Almost Famous” (which I enjoyed very much). Factor in that this film was on the pot burner for a good four years thanks to Cameron’s continuous ‘tweaking’. But sometimes, and in this case, leaving the movie to simmer and fester for that long a period may prove to be more detrimental than beneficial.

The story is a tad convoluted so I will try my best to keep it as straight and narrow as I possibly can. A young hot-shot shoe designer (yes, you read it right, S-H-O-E designer) on the eve of his biggest business fiasco being reported to the globe, has to venture to his father’s home town to settle his father’s funeral. He meets a string of interesting characters from an incessantly chatty air stewardess to boisterous family relations and in the process of getting to know his extended family, rediscover himself. And that is what the film TRIES to be but falls short terribly.

It will be easy to blatantly lash out at this film and run it six feet in to the ground but let us focus on some of the more positive aspects of the film. Cameron drags the cinematographer, John Toll (”Almost Famous” and “The Last Samurai”, from his previous outings to lens his latest film. The result is some very unique and poignant shots that will be etched into your mind. The scene in question is one where Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) releases a handful of ash out of the driver side window. Mr. Toll manages to combine the lush sky with the billowing of the ash to create a sense of melancholy that I have not felt in a long time.

A great director once said that your movie is half complete when you have a good cast. And in the case of “Elizabethtown”, it seems that Bloom was miscast as the lead character, Drew Baylor. There is a lot of responsibility resting on Bloom’s shoulders as the character of Drew is the backbone for the entire film. Orlando Bloom seems to be only capable of displaying one emotion at a time. It is either intense anger, profound sadness or constipated confusion. Mr. Bloom is unable to depict the finer, subtler emotions that is required of this character who is on the verge of self re-discovery. Perhaps he should stick to being either an archer or a pirate in his films from now on.

Kirsten Dunst is standard fare with nothing spectacular to note. One wonders if she is capable of playing more characters of depth and dimension or does she have a penchant for mimicking bubbly, overbearing blondes. She does show a bit of emotional range in a handful of scenes but overall, her performance in the film nothing out of the ordinary. One notable aspect of the film is Susan Sarandon’s (”Shall We Dance” and “The Banger Sisters”) short but memorable stint as recently widowed Hollie Baylor. The true highlight of the film is probably the memorial scene where Hollie Baylor pays a heartfelt tribute to her late husband by tap dancing to their favourite song. As in life, in the thick of an elaborate mess (such as this film), it is the simple but sincere gesture that touches us the most.

Cameron Crowe has an affinity for making movies that run close to the two hour mark. Although “Elizabethtown” is only two hours long it feels like four. The pacing of this film is jarring to the point that you begin to wonder what movie you are watching. As soon as one thinks that a scene has hit its stride, Cameron leaves it hanging and jumps to dwell upon another scene. There are some great portions to the film and dialogue within them but what is lacking here is a cohesive storyline to string them all together. It has been rumoured that this film is somewhat autobiographical and these are the experiences of the director which does explain quite a bit as to why the film turned out this way. What results onscreen is a mix bag of interesting filmic snippets and anecdotes that are unable to convey their complete message to the audience.

Although bursting with potential at the onset, it loses it quickly as it starts to meander between the plot of the young corporate turk coping with the death of his father and the disenchanted youth rediscovering himself by meeting the love of his life. There are elements of this film that feel mashed together just for the heck of it that if portioned out would make some interesting genre movies. The final segment to this film would have made an excellent road trip movie on its own.Till this film can make up its mind as to what it wants to be, we are basically left with something closer to a travelogue on gorgeous Kentucky than anything else.