elizabethtown [2 outta 4]

i’ve been a sucker for “independent” films lately. well, let me clarify. i’m not running to the tv, watching IFC and the sundance channel, but i tend to go to the fox searchlight and focus features movies. psudeo-mainstream. the only good movies that are making into movie theaters. you know what i mean. amazingly, most of the time you can tell just from the ads or disc packaging if its one of these flicks.

elizabethtown seems desperate to be one of these films. from almost famous director cameron crowe, it’s got that indie/classic rock soundtrack. with the wide-angle, scenic landscape photography. and the fun loving, troubled-yet-persistantly-lovable main actress. call it garden state (but so watered down you might find nemo inside). it had a very cat and mouse feel to it. she likes him, but he’s confused, then she won’t give in to him, so he leaves – bewildered and alone. then just when you think it’s over (spoiler alert), she leaves a note in his gift (see below) which reunites their burning passion and they live happily ever after.

regardless, i love kirsten dunst. she’s no reese, who i will marry…no matter what her husband says. i have a bunch of idealistic, romantic dreams that are revived when i watch movies like this. one is dancing with the girl of my dreams to a miles davis record in my living room. another is being given a gift like claire gives drew at the end of this movie. a personalized road trip book, detailed from the maps, brochures, and drawings down to the find-me-at-the-farmers-market scavenger hunt at the end.

and there you have it. its never good when the saving grace of a mediocre movie is a binder filled with maps.