Sean Sullivan

Some bad movies are made even worse by having some very compelling things going for them. Elizabethtown has a likeable talented cast, gorgeous cinematography and a wistful soundtrack that combine to give the film an overall sweet sentimental grace. I found the dialogue so confounding however it was as if the words were out of sync with the other aesthetics, so much so it reminded me of a 70's Kung Fu flick. If only the writing were as useful. As the main characters search for meaning after the death of a loved one our cast embark on a coming of age journey a realm in which Cameron Crowe usually excels. The foundations of this story were by all means solid yet at no time did I know what the cast were talking about, nor did I care to. I found the wordy dialogue too clever, too stylized and much too much of it. It is a credit to the actors they remained likeable or interesting at all. There is no reason that this story could have retained its nostalgia and achieved even more of a symmetry with simply less talking. Show us don't tell. That screenplay likely jumped off the pages during the read-thru. With Cameron Crowe at the helm I guarantee it. Unfortunately the audience does not get to indulge the same way.