Enjoyed the movie but wonder what a shoe designer has to do with a product recall. There would be prototypes developed and significant testing conducted before a company invested a billion dollars in production of a shoe designed by anyone, much less someone who was hired from a national scholarship program...

Drew Baylor, the young athletic shoe designer, comes up with an idea of a sneaker that will revolutionize the industry. Well, sadly to say, his invention is like the Edsel of the Spasmodica Shoe Company! His boss reminds Drew how his design is responsible for the almost one billion dollars the company stands to lose. Sad and dejected, Drew contemplates suicide; what could be worse than feeling the derision of his co-workers and his stand in the industry? As he is preparing to put an end to his life, the phone rings and it's his sister announcing their father has died while on a family visit to relatives in Kentucky.

Drew must go to take care of the arrangements for the father's funeral. Along the way, he meets on the red-eye flight a chatty flight attendant, Claire, that will be connected to him in ways he didn't expect. His relatives prove to be too much for Drew, who didn't count in seeing so many of his kin in one place. His family has not forgiven the fact that the father married a California woman and moved there. After all, these are proud people that love their life in Kentucky.

Things get complicated as Drew and the rest of his family wants to have the old man cremated, something the family in Kentucky looks down upon. One relative takes Drew to the plot in the cemetery that has been reserved for that side of the Baylors. Drew decides to go on with the plans. It's because of the kindness and love he receives from all these unknown relatives that he has a change of heart and decides to comply with their wishes, but alas, it's a bit too late as the cremation went through.

When Claire appears in Elizabethtown, whatever they felt on that first meeting has changed. Claire is a beautiful young woman who likes Drew for what he is. Claire is intrigued by why hasn't Drew made a cross-country trip. She has a plan for him to see the beauty of the country in its back roads and real people, which is what he does on his way back home. By the time he reaches Oregon, he will be a changed man.

Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown" appears to be a film that has captivated audiences, judging by the positive commentaries in this forum. The fact remains, this film "borrows" from other Crowe's films incorporating them into this narrative. The film is in part a road film, most notably the last sequences in the movie that involves Drew's trip throughout the land.

Orlando Bloom seemed a strange choice for Drew. His accent is perfect and he is totally believable as this man that has to come to terms with the death of a father and a failure in his designing career. Mr. Bloom makes a good contribution to the film. Kirsten Dunst plays Claire. At first she is a bit annoying and pushy. It's clear from the start she really likes the taciturn Drew, who doesn't want to get too involved with her. Susan Sarandon has only a few scenes. Her tap dancing at the memorial service for her husband is hilarious.

Although this is not one of the best films of Cameron Crowe, it is by no means a disappointment. John Toll's cinematography shows the heart of the country and its uncomplicated folk at their best.

I love Cameron Crowe. Let's make that absolutely clear. The casting of his movies is superb not to mention the writing or the sound tracks. Here, however, in Elizabethtown, the leading man is a hole on the screen. No charisma, no projection, no involvement. I'm not a teenage girl, I grant you that, but I don't think Cameron Crowe made this film for teenage girls. There was something about returning, about rediscovering and/or perhaps about first love. Elizabethtown aims higher than most teenage bound movies. The comatose performance of Orlando Bloom makes everyone else appear as if they were high on something. Billy Wilder is always a little bit present in Cameron Crowe's movies and Kirstin Dunst's character is a Wilder character if I ever saw one. I kept seeing the young Shirley MacLaine, or longing for, I should say. Dunst is an interesting actress but here she has to work with a wooden leading man, so that piece of miscasting throws the whole well intentioned enterprise way off course. Never mind, my love and admiration for Crowe will survive this one.