Elizabethtown Movie

Director:
Cameron Crowe

Writer (WGA):
Cameron Crowe (written by)

Release Date:
14 October 2005 (USA)

Genre:
Comedy | Drama | Romance

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
* 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

Original Sound Track :
1. 60B (Etown Theme) - Nancy Wilson
2. It'll All Work Out - Tom Petty
3. My Father's Gun - Elton John
4. IO (This Time Around) - Helen Stellar
5. Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
6. Where to Begin - My Morning Jacket
7. Long Ride Home - Patty Griffin
8. Sugar Blue - Jeff Finlin
9. Don't I Hold You - Wheat
10. Shut Us Down - Lindsey Buckingham
11. Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) - The Hombres
12. Hard Times - eastmountainsouth
13. Jesus Was a Crossmaker - The Hollies
14. Square One - Tom Petty
15. Same in Any Language - I Nine

Plot :
The film begins with industrial designer Drew Baylor[1](Orlando Bloom) as he walks towards the company he works in, an important international shoe company. As he enters the building, his boss Phil (Alec Baldwin) starts discussing the failure of his project and its effects on the company overall, costing the company 972 million dollars. After he is fired, his girlfriend breaks up with him. Drew goes to his apartment, and defeated, attempts to commit suicide(by modifying an exercise bike and attaching a kitchen knife with duct tape so he would be stabbed to death when activating the bike). However, his sister calls and tells him that his father has just died and he has to go to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to bring the body back home.

At the airport, Drew's sister (Judy Greer) and mother (Susan Sarandon) tell him that they wish to cremate his father's body. While on the nearly empty plane, a quick-witted flight attendant, Claire (Kirsten Dunst), jokingly tells him that his being on the airplane has kept the airline from going out of business, and gives him a free seat in first class. Despite his quick refusal, she insists that he move up to first class, because she doesn't want to have to walk all the way back to coach just for him. After he moves, Claire starts talking to him, and draws him a map to get to Elizabethtown. They go separate ways; however Drew will discover later that Claire wrote her phone number on the back of the map.

Despite the map and directions from Claire, Drew gets hopelessly lost on the highway. He finally arrives hours late. Drew notices the local traditions and the great respect shown to his dad's memory everywhere. A boy on a bike leads him to the funeral home, where Drew's cousin is waiting for him.

During the wake, Drew sees various members of his family, who all greet him as the "California boy", although his family had only lived in California for eighteen months before moving to Oregon. After viewing his father's body, he meets with some of his relatives near the burial plot they would like the body buried in. However, Drew insists on honoring his mother's wishes for a cremation.

Drew checks into a hotel and attempts to call home, but receives no answer. He remembers the map that Claire gave him with her number on it and decides to call her, but again receives no answer. He falls asleep, but is awakened by a call from Claire. The pair talks for most of the night and meet in the early morning. After a few days, he sees Claire in his hotel, and they spend the rest of the day together, including visiting the mortuary where Drew's father is to be cremated.

After making the final decision to cremate his father, Drew visits his relatives in Elizabethtown to tell them about it. In the kitchen he sees a photo of his father near a flame from the stove. Feeling guilty and regretful, he runs to the mortuary to stop the cremation, but arrives too late and is given an urn containing his father's ashes. Drew returns to the hotel carrying his father's ashes and sees Claire talking with the guests of a wedding at the hotel. Claire and Drew go to the room where the wedding rehearsal dinner had taken place and where his father's memorial service would also be held. They talk about their feelings for one another and agree they are not right for each other. However, they kiss and end up sleeping together. Claire leaves the hotel in the morning while Drew is still asleep. However, Drew wakes up and meets up with Claire before she leaves, and tells her his plan to finish his business in Kentucky, and then return home to commit suicide, because of the massive failure of his shoe company. Claire insists that suicide would only be cowardly, and that he'd make a better impact by living. They plan to meet up again at Drew's father's memorial.

Drew's mother and sister arrive in Kentucky for the memorial service. After various people speak in memory of Drew's father, Drew's mother talks about life after the death of her husband and tap dances to his favorite song. Later Drew's cousin, along with his band Ruckus (consisting of members of Kentucky band My Morning Jacket), begin to play the classic Lynyrd Skynyrd song Free Bird. Claire arrives to give support to Drew. A stage prop, a large paper dove, catches on fire, setting off fire alarms and causing emergency water sprinklers to go off, while everyone flees the room.

Claire gives Drew a map, with instructions and CDs, guiding him "home", with notes along the way to visit certain places. At each place he visits, he spreads some of his father's ashes. During the trip, Drew comes to terms with his father and begins to talk to him stating that they should have taken this trip together years ago. Finally, the directions come to a point where he is given two choices - to continue home or to finish the journey Claire laid out for him. Drew chooses to continue the journey. He is instructed to go to the "Second Largest Farmer's Market in The World" and locates a note telling him to "look for the girl with a red hat". After looking desperately for a few minutes, he finds Claire and kisses her.

Pictures :