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Mixed or average reviews - based on 37 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 102 Ratings

  • Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Orlando Bloom, Susan Sarandon
  • Summary: A love letter to the resilience of the life force, Elizabethtown is a charming, music-filled journey that proves amazing things can happen when you least expect them. (Paramount Pictures)
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 37
  2. Negative: 6 out of 37
  1. That rare animal, a dialogue-driven comedy -- and a good one at that. While one or two of its scenes may seem a tad too talky for today's low-attention spans, the script is mostly razor-sharp acerbic and sophisticated.
  2. Reviewed by: Simon Braund
    80
    Crowe is still a master navigator of swampy territory, and any movie that can warm the heart and tickle the funny bone without selling its soul is to be cherished, warts and all.
  3. 60
    Crowe's undeniable gifts -- his well-crafted individual scenes and his love for his characters -- are more evident here than his flaws.
  4. Crowe was going for something magical in all this, but the film is so affected and mannered, so preciously in love with itself, that it's painful to watch. Scenes go on and on, and when you think the movie's over, it goes on and on some more.

See all 37 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 73
  2. Negative: 31 out of 73
  1. Elizabethtown is a great and hilarious comedy with many reflections of how to appreciate life and understand what's really important in life. This movie tries to bring an interesting message. To me Cameron Crowe succeeded brilliantly. I don't understand all of the criticism towards the movie because I believe that the people and critics who disliked this movie simply weren't open about the main concept and somewhat skeptical. I hear many people saying that Elizabethtown is the worst copy of Garden state. Indeed I believe that it's totally the opposite thing because I believe that Elizabethtown is far superior. This movie has really precious moments.It's easy to sympathize with the leading character. Bloom,Dunst and Sarandon gave truly great performances.Orlando Bloom is for the first time rightly cast and I must say I found him really good.Kirsten Dunst was perfect and her performance is not always easy as it would seem. Susan Sarandon was really amazing and is the protagonist of a really funny but nevertheless moving sort of monologue that is the point of the entire movie. Cameron Crowe shows once again that he's a very original director. Simply one of the best of our generation. To enjoy Elizabethtown you have to abandon every last easy judgment. This movie is one of the most original in the recent years.It's not a romantic comedy as it was sold.It's about life,hope,love and how to deal with the difficulties of life.And how sometimes you need to search of your own origins to build a new life.And I was moved by that concept. Expand
  2. David
    8
    the movie was about a person so tied up in his misfounture that he stop living. then a girl comes along shows him there is still life after failure. best to celebrate life and remembrance. Expand
  3. VinceH.
    7
    I totally agree with Laura Sinagra's "Village Voice" review about this film. It really feels like a collection of ideas, moments, lines, character-quirks, shots, names, etc. that Crowe collected in his journal and then tried to create a plot to include it all. Because it is Crowe, the romantic stuff works the best and all of it is really well-written and genuinely romantic. The cross-country trip at the end isn't exactly Cusack blaring the boombox or Tom Cruise saying "You Complete me", but it works nonetheless. If anything, this film proves that it's pretty effortless for Crowe to write this kind of stuff while so many Hollywood hacks try to make a romantic comedy. Only Richard Curtis IMO is as good with character and plot. Unfortunately, that's the problem - there's too much of it. Crowe tries to stuff in so much in the film, it eventually becomes reductive to its own purpose. There are obviously great ideas here, but we forget about them so quickly because he just keeps throwing stuff at us. The movie never takes the time to breathe and relax. It is constantly fussy, fast, plot-heavy, etc. The film is over 2 hours and moves very quickly, which is not necessarily a good thing. Note: The performances are very strong, particularly from Orlando Bloom, turning in his best performance by far. Also great are the always reliable Judy Greer and a hilariously deadpan turn by Alec Baldwin. Overall the performances, strong writing (for the most part), and of course, the music, make this a film that you won't feel terrible spending $10 on. Expand
  4. TonyB.
    4
    "Elizabethtown" is overlong and, for the most part, pretty much of a bore. Too many minor characters who go nowhere and sub-plots that aren't developed are among its faults, as is the unsatisfactory editing. Two overly extended scenes, Susan Sarandon's eulogy and Orlando Bloom's road trip, certainly do not help. Expand

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