Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown

-2005 American comedy-drama directed by Cameron Crowe
-Stars Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst

Did You Know?
-Cook Paula Deen made her film debut as Aunt Dora
-When the premier for this movie was being held, the only one not present right at first was Orlando Bloom. He had missed his connecting flight from London and was late. He made it up to the fans by signing autographs
-On Jesse's wall is a text reading ear-x-tacy. Ear-X-Tacy is Louisville's biggest independently owned record store.

Plot
-Drew Baylor(Bloom) is the owner and designer of a new shoe called Spasmodica, which is hyped about, but still with flaws becauase his boss tells him they will lose $972 million on it. After he is fired, his girlfriend Ellen(Jessica Biel) nreaks up with him. Drew goes to his apartment, attempting to commit suicide. His sister Heather phones him at the exact time just to tell him their father died and he needs to come to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to bring the body home.

-While at the airport, Drew's sister and mother tell him they want to cremate his father's body. On a near empty plane, a quick witted flight attendant named Claire(Dunst) gives him a free seat in First Class. He refuses, but she insists because she does not want to have to walk all the way back to Coach. Claire is energetic, charming and knows how to read people like a book. She knows Kentucky like the back of her hand and draws him a map to Elizabethtown because the roads are"hopelessly and gloriuusly confusing." Also on the map is her phone number. When he gets there, a boy takes him to the funeral home, where his cousin waits for him.

-Members of his family greet him as "California Boy", although his family had only lived in Californai for 18 months before moving to Oregon. After seeing his father's body, he meets his relatives at his Aunt Dora's house, coming to the realization he has family in the middle of nowhere Kentucky.

 

-Drew settles into a hotel hosting a special event called "Chuck and Cindy: The Wedding." The hotel has a mess of people all partying, and he is pleasantly surprised by a 'Chuck and Cindy' basket in his room with 'lovin' life' all over everything. He tries to call home, but gets no answer. He calls his girlfriend Ellen and gets no answer. Finally, he remembers the phone number Clair gave him, calls her, and as she picks up, everyone calls him back. Ellen breaks up with him officially and his sister tells him that his mother won't stop moving as she tries to learn how to cook, how to tap dance, fix the car in place of mourning her husband's death. Clair drives to meet Drew to see the sunrise and she leaves for a flight to Hawaii

-Drew meets his family near the burial plot where they are interring their father. Drew insists on honoring his mother's wish for a cremation. He returns to the hotel, dead tired. Clair surprises him and takes him out all day to explore the town he's in, starting by helping him pick out an urn for his father. He is clearly attracted to her, and she is to him and she claims to have a boyfriend married to his career

-Later on, Drew spends time at his Aunt Dora's house and sees a photo of his father near a flame from the stove. He regrets his choice of cremation and runs to the mortuary to stop it but arrives too late and is given an urn with his father's ashes inside. Drew returns to the hotel to find Claire there. They start talking and find they are not right for each other. They kiss and spend the night together. The next morning, Claire wakes up before him and takes an imaginary photo of him in bed with no clothes on. He tells her how he is a failure and how he does not want to live anymore. She makes the failure seem like something as little as a scraped knee. He seems unable to take any opportunity given to him and she makes him a promise to be at his father's memorial.

-Drew's sister and mother arrive in Kentucky for the service. After greeting various relatives and giving speeches, his mother Hollie talks about her husband, lightening the mood comically and lifts a grudge from the family for "taking Mitch away." Then she proceeds to tap dance to his favorite song. Drew's cousin, along with his band Ruckus(consisting of members from Kentucky band My Morning Jacket) playing the trademark Lynyrd Skynyrd song Free Bird. Somehow, the prop catches on fire, a large paper dove, setting off alarms and drenching everything in water. Claire showed up and gives Drew a special road map to follow, sending him on a solitary trip home from Kentucky. During the fire, Claire helps evacuate the room and disappears.

-Claire's map is very complex, with instructions, CDs, guiding him "Home." There are notes of places along the way recommended to visit. At each one, he spreads a little of his dad's ashes. During the trip, Drew comes to terms with his dad and begins having a spiritual conversation with the urn, stating they should have done this years ago. The directions finally lead him to a point where he has two choices: to continue home or finish the journey Claire laid out. He chooses her route.

-He is then told to go to the "Second Largest Farmer's Market in The World". There is a note telling him to "look for a girl in a red hat." He searches desparately and ends up finding the girl, who turns out to be Claire. The movie ends with them kissing

Cast

Orlando Bloom as Drew Baylor

Kirsten Dunst as Claire Colburn

Susan Sarandon as Hollie Baylor

Alec Baldwin as Phil DeVoss

Bruce McGill as Bill Banyon

Judy Greer as Heather Baylor

Jessica Biel as Ellen Kishmore

Paul Schneider as Jessie Baylor

Loudon Wainwright III as Uncle Dale

Gailard Sartain as Charles Dean

Jed Rees as Chuck Hasboro

Jim Fitzpatrick as Rusty

Paula Deen as Aunt Dora

Dan Biggers as Uncle Roy

Alice Marie Crowe as Aunt Lena

Tim Devitt as Mitch Baylor

Ted Manson as Sad Joe

Shane Lyons as Charlie Bill

Emily Rutherfurd as Cindy Hasboro