Elizabethtown

A very personal semiautobiographical project from writer-director Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous), Elizabethtown follows a West Coast man traveling east to claim his father's body in the Kentucky town where the latter died while visiting relatives. Unfortunately, none of it seems remotely real—not the satirical opening in which the protagonist is fired from his job as a shoe designer, nor the screwball romance involving a free-spirited stewardess he meets along the way, nor the whimsical hometown atmosphere after he arrives, nor the bizarrely uplifting finale. Elizabethtown may be an actual location, but Elizabethtown feels like nowhere on earth, because Crowe's script is disjointed and tone-deaf (such as when the dead man's widow—an embarrassing turn by Susan Sarandon—shows up to tell jokes and tap dance during the memorial service). In addition, Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst strike zero sparks as the leads. In fact, the best part of Elizabethtown is Alec Baldwin's cameo as the boss who fires the hero—but it's over in the first 10 minutes, and all downhill from there. Not recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include two extended scenes (11 min.), a “Meet the Crew” featurette (3 min.), a “Training Wheels” segment with rehearsal clips (2 min.), a photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a rather paltry extras package for a rather poor film.] (F. Swietek)