Elizabethtown Movie Review
I have a new favorite movie. Elizabethtown. If you have not already seen this movie, I command you to watch it right now. It is better than any Nicholas Sparks flick you can think of. It's not even on the same plane as Nicholas Sparks. You know how sometimes you're in the mood for a specific type of movie but you can never seem to find it? Well, I finally found it. And it was amazing.The following contains many spoilers!!! Watch the movie first!!! It's on Netflix!!!
Allow me to enumerate the reasons why I loved this film: For one, I don't think I've ever loved a movie love story as much as this one. I can be a skeptic when it comes to love and I hate all the mushy gushy love stories out there (cough cough The Notebook) with dramatic affirmations of love, crying and fighting and then passionately making up etc. etc. I think that's a load of bull. So to watch a love story that was actually based on two people forming a connection, caring about each other, and becoming friends...well, it was refreshing to say the least. Of course, the fact that Orlando Bloom was the main character didn't hurt anything either...and Kirsten Dunst was stellar as well.
What I appreciated more than anything though, was that they didn't spoil the genuineness of the friendship/relationship by throwing in some pointless sex scene. I know, I'm a prude. Whatever. I just think that in pretty much every movie ever sex scenes are unnecessary. So the fact that all Drew and Claire did was kiss was like the icing on the cake for me. I was holding my breath for the whole movie, waiting for it to be ruined...but it met my ridiculously high expectations and more. I loved that while it was a rom com, it dealt with some difficult issues, like failure, suicide, death, and being stuck in relationships that are clearly not mutually beneficial. So often, death in movies is portrayed in this melodramatic, excessively somber way that is often not how it happens in real life. I could relate to the way Drew and his family reacted to his father's death because it many ways it was similar to my granddad's death. Instead of having this super sad funeral where everyone wears black and cries the whole time, they had this big party and remembered the happy moments from when Drew's dad was alive. There was some craziness involved, as always happens when extended families and friends collide, but it was funny and relatable. The way the movie portrayed Drew's desire to commit suicide also felt more realistic than most portrayals in that Drew acted completely normal and fine towards the people around him. I feel like most of the time the people who need the most help act the most "fine". And while this movie sounds incredibly depressing thus far, what with the suicide and the death, it wasn't. I guess it's like Little Miss Sunshine (which also involved suicide and death and was a comedy). I don't know how, but it managed to be a feel-good movie. Probably because (spoiler) everything worked out in the end. As for Claire, I was a little skeptical about her character in the beginning because I thought that she was just going to be this ditzy, "Chatty Cathy" type with no real substance or personality but she turned out to be so much more than that and I could really relate to her character. One of the things I most appreciated about her was that she truly cared about Drew, not because she wanted anything from him or expected anything of him, but because she was a kind, good-hearted person. For example, when Drew basically tried to end their friendship, Claire didn't have the standard crying/screaming "Fine then, we're through!" meltdown. She just tried to understand where he was coming from. And even though Claire knew that Drew was kind of messed up and not ready for a relationship, she still made him this super sweet road trip "map" that included all these mix tapes and things for Drew to do along his way back home with his dad's ashes. She did it not with the intent of making him fall in love with her, but in order to help Drew grieve his dad and move past it. And once Drew was able to do that, there was the finding-each-other-in-the-crowd scene at the end, and then the running into each other's arms and kissing. But I was okay with the cliche, because it was well-deserved. It had to be that way. Anything else would have been disappointing. Enjoy these random movie moments:
Figured out why I liked this movie so much...it was produced by a Wagner (and a Crowe and a Cruise but we'll ignore them).
What I appreciated more than anything though, was that they didn't spoil the genuineness of the friendship/relationship by throwing in some pointless sex scene. I know, I'm a prude. Whatever. I just think that in pretty much every movie ever sex scenes are unnecessary. So the fact that all Drew and Claire did was kiss was like the icing on the cake for me. I was holding my breath for the whole movie, waiting for it to be ruined...but it met my ridiculously high expectations and more. I loved that while it was a rom com, it dealt with some difficult issues, like failure, suicide, death, and being stuck in relationships that are clearly not mutually beneficial. So often, death in movies is portrayed in this melodramatic, excessively somber way that is often not how it happens in real life. I could relate to the way Drew and his family reacted to his father's death because it many ways it was similar to my granddad's death. Instead of having this super sad funeral where everyone wears black and cries the whole time, they had this big party and remembered the happy moments from when Drew's dad was alive. There was some craziness involved, as always happens when extended families and friends collide, but it was funny and relatable. The way the movie portrayed Drew's desire to commit suicide also felt more realistic than most portrayals in that Drew acted completely normal and fine towards the people around him. I feel like most of the time the people who need the most help act the most "fine". And while this movie sounds incredibly depressing thus far, what with the suicide and the death, it wasn't. I guess it's like Little Miss Sunshine (which also involved suicide and death and was a comedy). I don't know how, but it managed to be a feel-good movie. Probably because (spoiler) everything worked out in the end. As for Claire, I was a little skeptical about her character in the beginning because I thought that she was just going to be this ditzy, "Chatty Cathy" type with no real substance or personality but she turned out to be so much more than that and I could really relate to her character. One of the things I most appreciated about her was that she truly cared about Drew, not because she wanted anything from him or expected anything of him, but because she was a kind, good-hearted person. For example, when Drew basically tried to end their friendship, Claire didn't have the standard crying/screaming "Fine then, we're through!" meltdown. She just tried to understand where he was coming from. And even though Claire knew that Drew was kind of messed up and not ready for a relationship, she still made him this super sweet road trip "map" that included all these mix tapes and things for Drew to do along his way back home with his dad's ashes. She did it not with the intent of making him fall in love with her, but in order to help Drew grieve his dad and move past it. And once Drew was able to do that, there was the finding-each-other-in-the-crowd scene at the end, and then the running into each other's arms and kissing. But I was okay with the cliche, because it was well-deserved. It had to be that way. Anything else would have been disappointing. Enjoy these random movie moments:
Quote of the Day: "I want to write a book that makes people cry."- DL from like, last week, randomly, while watching The Princess Diaries 2.
Day 994 Song Recommendation: "All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye" by John Mayer.
-SE Wagner
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