After causing a loss of almost one billion dollars in his company, the shoe designer Drew Baylor decides to commit suicide. However, in the exact moment of his act of despair, he receives a phone call from his sister telling him that his beloved father had just died in Elizabethtown, and he should bring him back since his mother had problem with the relatives of his father. He travels in an empty red eye flight and meets the attendant Claire Colburn, who changes his view and perspective of life.Written by
Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In the original script, Ben is Claire's brother. She uses him as a way to deflect unwanted advances. See more »
Goofs
At the memorial, when the people are leaving the room because of the fire, there's a shot of a woman taking away Drew's father's picture, a giant portrait in black and white. In the next shot, the picture is seen at the back of the room. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Dock Worker:
[receiving returning good]
Welcome back, boys.
Drew Baylor:
As somebody once said, there's a difference between a failure and a fiasco. A failure is simply the non-present of success. Any fool can accomplish failure. But a fiasco, a fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions. A fiasco is a folktale told to others, that makes other people feel more... alive. Because it didn't happen to them.
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Crazy Credits
This film opens with the 1954 "VistaVision" Paramount Pictures logo - instead of the new 'live-action' one. This logo was used at the head of all Paramount films released from the mid-1950s through to 1986. See more »
This movie is unlike most in that it doesn't try for reality -- it is more like an inner dialogue played out so we can see it.
There are several laugh out loud moments which should not be missed. These stand up even in a second viewing. The juxtaposition of Orlando's Bloom's fiasco-failure of historic proportions/his father's funeral/Chuck and Cindie's wedding/and perhaps finding his life mate, Kristan Dunst, are all woven into a timeless (no)place called Elizabethtown, which is magical. For me the magic worked. There were a few things that didn't click, but mostly it was genuine, funny, and affecting.
Alec Baldwin is perfect as Phil, the shoe tycoon. He has just the right mix of bonhomie, menace, and smart-guy-in-charge to fill the role.
Susan Sarandon seems a bit distracting at first but by the end "its all good," -- wait I don't say that -- "it works" there that is better. Her contribution is uplifting.
As for the "World's Second Largest Farmer's Market" -- it isn't on any map that doesn't map the human heart.
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This movie is unlike most in that it doesn't try for reality -- it is more like an inner dialogue played out so we can see it.
There are several laugh out loud moments which should not be missed. These stand up even in a second viewing. The juxtaposition of Orlando's Bloom's fiasco-failure of historic proportions/his father's funeral/Chuck and Cindie's wedding/and perhaps finding his life mate, Kristan Dunst, are all woven into a timeless (no)place called Elizabethtown, which is magical. For me the magic worked. There were a few things that didn't click, but mostly it was genuine, funny, and affecting.
Alec Baldwin is perfect as Phil, the shoe tycoon. He has just the right mix of bonhomie, menace, and smart-guy-in-charge to fill the role.
Susan Sarandon seems a bit distracting at first but by the end "its all good," -- wait I don't say that -- "it works" there that is better. Her contribution is uplifting.
As for the "World's Second Largest Farmer's Market" -- it isn't on any map that doesn't map the human heart.