Elizabethtown
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An Incomplete Connection
Cameron Crowe’s new offering Elizabethtown is described in the production notes as “a uniquely crafted comedy set in the key of life.� A better name for the movie would have been Crowe’s title for the soundtrack, “The Great American Radio Station,� because the music and the way it is woven around the performances of two of the female leads completely dominates—and distracts from—the story Crowe intended to tell.
Elizabethtown was meant to be a tribute to Crowe’s father and a catharsis of sorts for Crowe’s own experience and emotions when his own father died unexpectedly. The central character, Drew (played by Orlando Bloom), journeys from Oregon to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to retrieve his father’s remains; the father, who has died suddenly while visiting relatives from whom the rest of his family (wife, daughter, and son) have been estranged since he married Drew’s mother and settled in the Pacific Northwest away from his roots. But, almost immediately, Bloom’s portrayal of Drew is completely eclipsed by the stressed out, neurotic, perfectly timed comedy of Judy Greer who plays Heather Baylor, his sister. And, right on the heels of our introduction to Heather, comes the tour de force performance of Kirsten Dunst as Claire, the eternally optimistic stewardess whom Drew encounters on a mostly empty red-eye flight to Kentucky. Crowe himself describes Claire as “the soul of the movie� and that is exactly what she becomes, pushing everyone else, including the intended spiritual journey of Drew, to wallow in the background, never to satisfactorily develop or conclude. The result is that Crowe almost has to “force� his audience to feel the emotions he felt. Heather and Claire are the only characters who don’t carry this taint of manipulation.
Though Heather is a supporting role and Claire is a main character, they personify the two spiritual roads that every person (in this case, Drew) has open—tlove, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (the “Fruit of the Spirit�; see Galatians 5:22,23) or fear, uncertainty, stress, pessimism, confusion, worry, self-will, “me�ism, and fatalism: products of clinging to the culture of man instead of God. God and religion are never mentioned in this film so we never know where any of the characters stand in any spiritual sense. However, Claire's role is so well-written and so well-acted by Kirsten Dunst that it is truly the most honest portrayal of a person who embodies what the Apostle Paul wrote of in Galatians, someone who has sewn these nine positive characteristics of a Christian into the fabric of her life so well that no one she comes into contact with can help but be drawn to her. This is God’s desire for all Christians—that He will be known by these characteristics that Christ fully lived and demonstrated to mankind while walking on this earth and which believers are to cultivate with the help of the Holy Spirit. By producing and living out all of the fruit of the spirit in their lives, Christians are meant to attract others into relationship with God. Too often, however, the world sees more of Heather in Christians than of Claire.
Heather epitomizes who Drew is until his life is changed by association with Claire. He views himself as a failure who has worshipped at the feet of the god of success and been totally trampled. He fears his future and is uncertain where he will be in even two hour’s time. His mental “conversation� is confused, worried, pessimistic, and paranoid. He is so wrapped up in himself that although his plans to commit suicide are temporarily thwarted by his sister’s and mother’s demand that he go and retrieve his father’s body, he fully intends to complete the deed when he accomplishes the assigned task.
By the end of the film, Drew has experienced or observed every quality of Claire’s personality and has not been able to find a chink in the armor of her character. She is loving even toward people most of us would rather not acknowledge, let alone spend time with. She bubbles with joy that would come off cloyingly sweet and completely phony if not acted with such care and talent on Dunst’s part. Claire has made peace with every aspect of her life and so attracts others to “rest� in the peaceful place she has made for herself. She is infinitely patient with Drew, who spends more time talking to himself than anybody else and is so self-absorbed that he is controlled by life and what the world thinks instead of taking control of himself. Claire is the model of a good, kind, and gentle servant of an airline stewardess who genuinely loves her work and her passengers and whom you know will not complain about or make fun of them after they leave the plane. In her pursuit of Drew (whom she knows is The One for her) she faithfully leads him to healing and lets him go so that he eventually finds the way back to her.
Somehow, intuitively, you realize as the credits run that Drew will live the rest of his life in a world like Claire’s more than a world like Heather’s. Without being able to name it as such, he has been touched by and saved by the Christ-like qualities that have surrounded him and have penetrated his self-absorption.
A final postscript: The soundtrack to this film will be worth owning. The music often makes up for the mediocre performances of most of the cast and saves the movie along with Dunst and Greer. It also keeps the audience from going for more popcorn in the places where the story line should have been edited a little more carefully.
CONTINUE
— Overview (multimedia)
— Overview Basic (dial up speed)
— Reviews and Blogs
— Cast and Crew
— Photo Pages
— Overview (multimedia)
— Overview Basic (dial up speed)
— Reviews and Blogs
— Cast and Crew
— Photo Pages
An Incomplete Connection
Cameron Crowe’s new offering Elizabethtown is described in the production notes as “a uniquely crafted comedy set in the key of life.� A better name for the movie would have been Crowe’s title for the soundtrack, “The Great American Radio Station,� because the music and the way it is woven around the performances of two of the female leads completely dominates—and distracts from—the story Crowe intended to tell.
Elizabethtown was meant to be a tribute to Crowe’s father and a catharsis of sorts for Crowe’s own experience and emotions when his own father died unexpectedly. The central character, Drew (played by Orlando Bloom), journeys from Oregon to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to retrieve his father’s remains; the father, who has died suddenly while visiting relatives from whom the rest of his family (wife, daughter, and son) have been estranged since he married Drew’s mother and settled in the Pacific Northwest away from his roots. But, almost immediately, Bloom’s portrayal of Drew is completely eclipsed by the stressed out, neurotic, perfectly timed comedy of Judy Greer who plays Heather Baylor, his sister. And, right on the heels of our introduction to Heather, comes the tour de force performance of Kirsten Dunst as Claire, the eternally optimistic stewardess whom Drew encounters on a mostly empty red-eye flight to Kentucky. Crowe himself describes Claire as “the soul of the movie� and that is exactly what she becomes, pushing everyone else, including the intended spiritual journey of Drew, to wallow in the background, never to satisfactorily develop or conclude. The result is that Crowe almost has to “force� his audience to feel the emotions he felt. Heather and Claire are the only characters who don’t carry this taint of manipulation.Though Heather is a supporting role and Claire is a main character, they personify the two spiritual roads that every person (in this case, Drew) has open—tlove, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (the “Fruit of the Spirit�; see Galatians 5:22,23) or fear, uncertainty, stress, pessimism, confusion, worry, self-will, “me�ism, and fatalism: products of clinging to the culture of man instead of God. God and religion are never mentioned in this film so we never know where any of the characters stand in any spiritual sense. However, Claire's role is so well-written and so well-acted by Kirsten Dunst that it is truly the most honest portrayal of a person who embodies what the Apostle Paul wrote of in Galatians, someone who has sewn these nine positive characteristics of a Christian into the fabric of her life so well that no one she comes into contact with can help but be drawn to her. This is God’s desire for all Christians—that He will be known by these characteristics that Christ fully lived and demonstrated to mankind while walking on this earth and which believers are to cultivate with the help of the Holy Spirit. By producing and living out all of the fruit of the spirit in their lives, Christians are meant to attract others into relationship with God. Too often, however, the world sees more of Heather in Christians than of Claire.Heather epitomizes who Drew is until his life is changed by association with Claire. He views himself as a failure who has worshipped at the feet of the god of success and been totally trampled. He fears his future and is uncertain where he will be in even two hour’s time. His mental “conversation� is confused, worried, pessimistic, and paranoid. He is so wrapped up in himself that although his plans to commit suicide are temporarily thwarted by his sister’s and mother’s demand that he go and retrieve his father’s body, he fully intends to complete the deed when he accomplishes the assigned task.
By the end of the film, Drew has experienced or observed every quality of Claire’s personality and has not been able to find a chink in the armor of her character. She is loving even toward people most of us would rather not acknowledge, let alone spend time with. She bubbles with joy that would come off cloyingly sweet and completely phony if not acted with such care and talent on Dunst’s part. Claire has made peace with every aspect of her life and so attracts others to “rest� in the peaceful place she has made for herself. She is infinitely patient with Drew, who spends more time talking to himself than anybody else and is so self-absorbed that he is controlled by life and what the world thinks instead of taking control of himself. Claire is the model of a good, kind, and gentle servant of an airline stewardess who genuinely loves her work and her passengers and whom you know will not complain about or make fun of them after they leave the plane. In her pursuit of Drew (whom she knows is The One for her) she faithfully leads him to healing and lets him go so that he eventually finds the way back to her.Somehow, intuitively, you realize as the credits run that Drew will live the rest of his life in a world like Claire’s more than a world like Heather’s. Without being able to name it as such, he has been touched by and saved by the Christ-like qualities that have surrounded him and have penetrated his self-absorption.A final postscript: The soundtrack to this film will be worth owning. The music often makes up for the mediocre performances of most of the cast and saves the movie along with Dunst and Greer. It also keeps the audience from going for more popcorn in the places where the story line should have been edited a little more carefully.
CONTINUE
— Overview (multimedia)
— Overview Basic (dial up speed)
— Reviews and Blogs
— Cast and Crew
— Photo Pages
