Elizabethtown (2005)

During a hometown memorial for his Kentucky-born father, a young man begins an unexpected romance with a too-good-to-be-true stewardess.

Director:

Cameron Crowe

Writer:

Cameron Crowe

Stars:

Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Orlando Bloom	...	Drew Baylor
Kirsten Dunst	...	Claire Colburn
Susan Sarandon	...	Hollie Baylor
Alec Baldwin	...	Phil Devoss
Bruce McGill	...	Bill Banyon
Judy Greer	...	Heather Baylor
Jessica Biel	...	Ellen Kishmore
Paul Schneider	...	Jessie Baylor
Loudon Wainwright III	...	Uncle Dale (as Loudon Wainwright)
Gailard Sartain	...	Charles Dean
Jed Rees	...	Chuck Hasboro
Paula Deen	...	Aunt Dora
Dan Biggers	...	Uncle Roy
Alice Marie Crowe	...	Aunt Lena
Tim Devitt	...	Mitch Baylor

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

publicity | bad publicity | quote | cubicle | suit and tie | 

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Taglines:

The Best Place To Find Yourself.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [UK] Paramount Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Elizabettauna

Filming Locations:

1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$57,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,618,711, 16 October 2005, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$26,838,389, 18 December 2005

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,500,000, 13 November 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures,Cruise/Wagner Productions,Vinyl Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Scarlett Johansson auditioned for the role of Claire.

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Goofs

An exterior shot of Drew's red-eye flight from LA to Nashville shows a Boeing 747 in flight. Later, as Drew is exiting the plane, it is a one-aisled, non-jumbo jet.

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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.

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Connections

Edited into Paula Goes to Hollywood (2005)

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Soundtracks

Moon River
(1961)
Music by Henry Mancini
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Performed by Patty Griffin
Patty Griffin performs courtesy of ATO Records, LLC

User Reviews

A success about failure.

Elizabethtown is a mastery of subtlety; instead of being a movie to escape reality in, it is a movie that enables you to examine yourself. At first glance, the characters and plot may be dismissed as "two-dimensional" and "uneventful," however, that is not the case. Like people in general, Kirsten Dunst's and Orlando Bloom's characters are struggling inside the awkwardness of life. They are both struggling to differentiate their public personas from their deeply private individual emotions. In discovering each other, they find an outlet for accomplishing just that. The movie gives one more than the chance to examine and understand the characters - it holds up a mirror so that we can all see in plain light own facades and struggles. What each person gets out of the movie is unique, but the overriding message of the movie is to let go of baggage and live life without fear. It is an optimistic movie, and provides cathartic healing almost as much for the audience as it does for the characters.