When I shared with a friend that I had just received the movie "Elizabethtown" through Netflix, her response was "Ugh! That movie was awful! Just send it back." Naturally, this strong reaction left me curious and I decided - what the worst that could happen? I lose two hours of my life? It stars Orlando Bloom, how bad could it be?
The truth is, Elizabethtown had some great moments, and a cast with great potential. The film centers around Orlando Bloom's character Drew who has just been fired from his job, dumped by his girlfriend (played by Jessica Biel sporting a Farah Fawcett hair do) and has just lost his father to a heart attack.
Bloom isn't quite solemn enough for this role. He can't quite pull off introspection. I also kept waiting for his British accent to creep out.
His love interest Claire, played by Kirsten Dunst, seems to be two different people. Annoying and a tad ditzy at the start, and then magically morphs into an intuitive, thoughtful partner further into the film. Inconsistent on the part of the writers, and a tad irritating for the viewer.
Drew's mother and sister are played by Susan Sarandon and Judy Greer, two actresses with great comedic timing. Although Judy Greer has never gotten the fame she deserves, she has played some well known roles including the side kick in both Jennifer Lopez's "The Wedding Planner" and Jennifer Garner's "30 Going On 30."
There are some beautiful, artistic shots in the movie - Drew's childhood memories of his father, as well as an in-person meeting with Drew and Claire sitting on a rock wall overlooking the river. It is clear the movie's cinematographer has a great eye. I wish he had more of a chance to showcase it.
But overall, the movie could not decide if it wanted to be a story of a man rediscovering his relationship with his father (think Billy Crudup in Big Fish) or it wanted to be a story of a man discovering love when he thought his heart had gone cold.
Had the movie selected a clear path, with this cast, and the surprisingly great country music soundtrack, it could have been a hit. So long, Elizabethtown.
