Elizabethtown

Starring

Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Surandon, Alec Baldwin, Bruce McGill

Rated PG-13

“Elizabethtown” is one of the sweetest and warmest comedy-dramas to hit the screen lately. Cameron Crowe, the master writer/director behind “Almost Famous” and “Jerry Maguire,” has created one of his best films to date, and here he is equipped with an especially terrific cast.

            Orlando Bloom puts soul and a surprising amount of believability into the role of Drew Baylor, an employee at a major American shoe company who is fired after the expensive shoe that he modeled loses his business billions of dollars.

On that same day, he gets a call from his sister Heather (Judy Greer) informing him of his father’s death. His mother, Hollie (Susan Surandon) desperately wants to avoid her in-laws, so Drew is sent as a family representative to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where Drew’s father hailed from. Along the way, he begins a journey of self-discovery as he starts a relationship with flight attendant Claire (a perfectly nutty Kirsten Dunst) and finds that he never really knew his father.

Crowe’s films have always been ones that you can connect to on an emotional and intellectual level, and “Elizabethtown” succeeds in both of those areas. The film also has a fantastic soundtrack (another trademark of Crowe’s), with music from Elton John, Tom Petty, and Ryan Adams. Some would simply categorize this film as a chick flick, but “Elizabethtown” works in more powerful and inventive ways.

   
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