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Movie review

A long-lasting love story

By VERONIKA SLEP, Times X-Team
Published October 17, 2005

MOVIE: Elizabethtown

RATING: PG-13 for profanity, brief sexual content

SYNOPSIS: Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) is in an emotional tailspin. His awful athletic shoe design has cost his company $972-million. He has just learned that his father, who he has not spent any time with, has died of a heart attack while visiting his hometown of Elizabethtown, Ky. When his girlfriend breaks up with him, Drew isn't sure that his life could get any worse. While on a plane to his father's funeral, Drew meets an annoyingly positive flight attendant named Claire (Kirsten Dunst). Upon meeting his father's family, Drew thinks they are nuts. But the more time he spends with them, the more he feels right at home. While getting to know Claire over one amazing phone call, he sees what a fun-loving girl she is. After the memorial service, Claire sends Drew off on a road trip that changes his life.

MY VIEW: This was a quirky love story with amazing music that sometimes overshadowed the movie. Bloom and Dunst do not quite fit as a couple and would be better off as friends. The cell phone incident was very realistic and funny and some of the incidents with the family in Elizabethtown were hilarious. Drew's mother (Susan Sarandon) goes through a breakdown and makes you want to laugh when she tries to cook, tap dance and tell jokes. Directed by Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous), Elizabethtown has great music but is too long. Orlando Bloom is so handsome that teenage girls may find it hard to focus on the story, but hey, that's not a bad thing.

RECOMMENDATION: If you like love stories, comedy, drama and great music, then this is the film for you.

GRADE: B+

- Veronika Slep, 14, is in the ninth grade at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg.

[Last modified October 14, 2005, 11:49:48]