-Look, if someone wants to tell you that "Elizabethtown" is a bad film, don't argue with them. You can't win. As a film, it is pretty much a trainwreck. The whole film is really like at least three separate films in one. The third act is the weakest of them all. And the conclusion is pretty lackluster. I'm not going to deny any of that and, if you love this film, you shouldn't either.

But it is easy to love this film if you're a sentimental romantic who loves unusual films. It also helps if you really like Orlando Bloom and/or Kirsten Dunst. Even though this is a huge ensemble cast, Bloom is in nearly every frame of the film and Dunst is certainly the only other "major role" to be found here. Bloom, of course, is an attractive and charming young man and it is pretty easy to look at him for two hours. His character is complex and interesting and going through a change in his life that makes for a very compelling story. Dunst, meanwhile, breaks out of her shell as the "typical" girl next door. I guess, since Reese Witherspoon, who used to be edgy, has sort of taken up the slack on the "typical" girl roles, Dunst can afford to get quirky. Her character comes off as very odd at first but as the film evolves, we grow to love her as much as Bloom's character does.

Since the film has different aspects and layers to the story, it is important to discuss these and how they work together, so some spoilers are sure to follow for people who haven't seen the film, so be forewarned. At first the story is very much a family "culture clash" movie. Bloom's Drew Baylor has pretty much had his ass handed to him on a plate at his work, so this frees him up to take an extended holiday. When his father dies while visiting his family in Kentucky, Drew, a wealthy young businessman, travels to meet his relatives and retrieve his fathers body. There is a very acute sense of loss and melancholy here. The way Dunst's airline hostess and Drew's own extended family relate to him is an intense focus on how important friends and family are at times of loss. If you can make it through this stage of the film without getting teary-eyed, you have a hard enough heart to run for public office as a Republican. Baylor, at first defeated and suicidal, seems reborn and open to anything once he truly begins his journey here. This is important for his character's emotional arc, so that he can get to the point where he falls in love with Dunst at the end of the film.

The family here is wonderful and writer/director Cameron Crowe is quite adept at bringing forth a fun, sweet, sincere, quirky and beautiful set of characters that really win us over. In many ways, the film reminded me slightly of "Junebug," as a urban person is suddenly thrust into a rural setting and seems totally bemused by it all. But Bloom's Drew is far more open and fascinated by his new surroundings than Embeth Davidtz is in the more independent film. Drew is immediately met with love and acceptance and he clings on to this for dear life. His reaction to all that happens, to all the people that he meets is wonderful. As a person who has moved from a rural area in Iowa to the big city of Houston, Texas, I can tell you that there is nothing more interesting going home to your small town roots after several years and suddenly seeing the charm and quaintness of a rural setting where everyone knows everyone else.

This part of the film is steeped in Drew's loss of a father to whom he has become somewhat estranged. And so, this part of the film is touching and emotional as it considers the ever dissolving bond between fathers and their grown sons and the emotional distance that often creeps into their relationships. Drew discovers his roots and his father's love in the film and it opens him up to find more love in his life.

The second part of this early stage in the film is the flirtatious friendship between Drew and Dunst's Claire. This alone is enough to base any movie on. The stars have a chemistry that is interesting and palpable. You can argue about this and dismiss these two actors as over-hyped stars if you want, but a truly romantic viewer will find it easy to grow enamored with the love affair we see here as it evolves from chance meeting to flirtatious friendship to love. This is a love affair to root for and one that we desperately want to see work out. Crowe is clever and cunning in how he writes this film and so the pitfalls of cliche are easily avoided by his talented pen. The scene where the two drive their cars toward each other while electronica music by the fantastic Ulrich Schnauss plays is nothing short of magical.

The funeral, or to be more exact, the memorial, is the next most important scene in the film and this is where Crowe meets his first difficulties. He springs off on a tangent here involving Susan Sarandon as the mother of Bloom, the wife of the dead father, that just doesn't work within the context of the film. At first, Crowe hired Jane Fonda to perform the role and this scene, as written, seems like it would be much more interesting with her in the part. (Fonda couldn't wait for filming to start and after many delays had already accepted a role in "Monster-in-Law.") Crowe needed someone who is seen as more conservative and withdrawn than Sarandon to take on the role, someone whom it would be surprising to see tap dance and tell dirty jokes. I don't know who that might be exactly but it should be someone who is seen as hard, a bitch... someone who is considered a "touch old bird." That's why Fonda was a great choice. Perhaps Joan Collins or Jill Clayburgh or Liv Ullman. I don't know. Sarandon is already too well known as being liberal and flighty, so it is impossible for her to discard the preconceived notions of her public persona and play an uptight urban mother here.

The conclusion of the "memorial" portion of the film is what will become instantly known as the "Freebird" sequence. This is pure Crowe and pure genius and makes this segment of the "Elizabethtown" a truly brilliant cinematic moment. This is probably the last high point of the film.

But Crowe insists on being quite ambitious and so the third act of the film is a portion that seems too quick and too compacted with ideas and information. Here the film becomes travelogue as well as a wonderful glimpse into the beauty and appeal of rural Eastern America. If Crowe wanted to take another hour exploring this segment of the story, something that he should not have been afraid to do, then the film might have become epic and amazing. But time seems to be an issue here and whether it was producers and studio constraints, or limitations put upon himself, Crowe jam-packs everything into about fifteen minutes and the effect seems rushed and contrived. We return to the father and son relationship, but there is not enough time spent on Drew's emotional growth and evolution as a person. It seems like his journey should have taken months instead of just a couple days. (Also, when in the hell did Claire find the time to compile a huge scrapbook and burn nearly 20 mix CD's? She's already lacking sleep at the beginning of the film. Even if she is an insomniac, it seems highly unlikely she could do so much so fast).

And finally there is the end of the film. Here's what I was hoping would happen. I was hoping that the girl in the red hat would be Sarandon. I was hoping that Claire would see that Drew needed more time with his family to be a more well- rounded person. What if Claire was there and had become friends with the mom and was ready to become part of his family? Wouldn't that be a better ending? Instead we have this typical and contrived boy-gets-girl moment that is somewhat romantic but utterly unoriginal. We expect a hell of a lot more from Crowe.

I realized while watching "Elizabethtown" that Cameron Crowe is the filmmaker that I probably identify with most. Sure, I love David Lynch and I will always think he is the greatest filmmaker of all time, but I feel like I have a lot in common with Crowe. We both love music. I started working in radio when I was 19 and Crowe was a rock journalist for many years starting in his teens. This love of music flavors his films, most obviously in "Almost Famous" but also evident in many of his other films, like "Say Anything" (where John Cusack holds a jambox playing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes"), "Singles" (where characters are musicians) and "Vanilla Sky," where an album cover plays a small part in the plot. Crowe, in a promotional trailer playing at Cinemark theaters for an "Elizabethtown" contest, says that all of his films start with a song. In this case it was Tom Petty's "It'll All Work Out." (There are other Petty songs on the soundtrack as well). Several other songs play an important part throughout the film, especially in the third act during the road trip.

As I got older, I got much more interested in film and apparently Crowe has too as he has made three films since 2000. His films are loving tributes to the power of music mixed with films. Yes, he is overly ambitious in what he does with music in the final act here; this is true. But it is the love of music and the idea that music is more than just a spice of life, the idea that it is an integral part of life in America, that makes this film boil over at its end. Crowe is onto something primal and universal about music and memories, about music and places, about music and life... but he just can't seem to make it all sync up. It is the one things that truly nullifies this film as a masterpiece.

"Elizabethtown" is indeed not a great movie. It certainly lacks the wondrous joy of "Almost Famous" and the perfect romantic touches of "Jerry Maguire." But while it is flawed, it is also human and unique. Perhaps on DVD, with the ability to expand the story and create a more rich and congruous whole, Crowe will be able to have a film closer to the masterpiece he surely intended upon. At the very least, the film does make you believe that Crowe would be an excellent choice to make films based on great modern novels by authors like John Irving or Douglas Coupland. It would be hard to say that about most of the other director working in Hollywood these days.

Notes:

Also with Bruce McGill, Alec Baldwin, Jessica Biel, Loudon Wainwright, and Gailard Sartain.

Music by Nancy Wilson of Heart fame, who is also Mrs. Crowe. Other pop songs by the aforementioned Petty and Schnauss, Lindsay Buckingham, Elton John (from "Tumbleweed Connection"), Ryan Adams, My Morning Jacket, Wheat, and The Hollies among others.

Patty Griffin, who also has music on the soundtrack, has a small role.

Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner are listed as producers along with Crowe.

Crowe wrote the lead for Bloom who was unable to do it at first due to his schedule. Crowe then hired Ashton Kutcher but felt he had no chemistry with Dunst. He auditioned several actors including James Franco, Colin Hanks and Seann William Scott. The latter almost got the part until Bloom became available and took the role.

Dunst dropped out of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" to take this role.

Filmed mainly in Kentucky. The grave of Col. Harland Sanders is shown and Dunst calls him "The Jim Morrison of Kentucky."

Viewed in Austin in October 2005.

Report Card

Script: B+

Acting: A-

Cinematography\Lighting: A

Special Effects\Make Up: A+

Music: A

Final Grade: B+