Elizabethtown Review
Oct. 26th, 2005 10:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI got tickets for a free preview of Elizabethtown and went to see it last night with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
vampadvocate.
Like all the other Cameron Crowe films I've seen, Elizabethtown is about connecting with people, and taking a chance on a relationship that may not seem to make much sense.
Crowe takes his time, building up a series of small moments into a beautifully crafted big picture. There are no extremes; rather, the film progresses like an undulating wave, with the audience riding the course of emotions atop it. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it left me feeling uplifted, but only as far as the tube station.
Orlando Bloom finally seems to be acting with more than just his eyebrows; if he keeps improving with every film, he may turn into a fine actor sometime soon, and he and Kirsten Dunst certainly made an appealing couple. Susan Sarandon was the highlight of the peripheral characters, her comic timing pitch perfect.
When I first saw the trailer, I thought the film looked like Garden State with prettier people, and it did bear similarities in terms of the plot. Garden State was much more internally focused, though, and Elizabethtown was more straightforward in its character development and emotional arc. I wouldn't say it was fair to compare the two, since they are distinct films in their own right and employ very different approaches and tones.
All in all, an enjoyable night out, but probably not one for the DVD collection.
vampadvocate.Like all the other Cameron Crowe films I've seen, Elizabethtown is about connecting with people, and taking a chance on a relationship that may not seem to make much sense.
Crowe takes his time, building up a series of small moments into a beautifully crafted big picture. There are no extremes; rather, the film progresses like an undulating wave, with the audience riding the course of emotions atop it. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it left me feeling uplifted, but only as far as the tube station.
Orlando Bloom finally seems to be acting with more than just his eyebrows; if he keeps improving with every film, he may turn into a fine actor sometime soon, and he and Kirsten Dunst certainly made an appealing couple. Susan Sarandon was the highlight of the peripheral characters, her comic timing pitch perfect.
When I first saw the trailer, I thought the film looked like Garden State with prettier people, and it did bear similarities in terms of the plot. Garden State was much more internally focused, though, and Elizabethtown was more straightforward in its character development and emotional arc. I wouldn't say it was fair to compare the two, since they are distinct films in their own right and employ very different approaches and tones.
All in all, an enjoyable night out, but probably not one for the DVD collection.
