History Film / Elizabethtown

* AlliterativeName: Claire Colburn.

* FakeAmerican: Orlando Bloom is British.

But before he can off himself (though not before he's given away all his possessions on the street corner), he gets a call from his sister (Creator/JudyGreer), informing him that their father has died while visiting his relatives in Kentucky. Both Drew's mom (Creator/SusanSarandon) and his sister are far too emotional to deal with the situation. They call on him to arrange the funeral and cremation. So Drew's plans for suicide are put on hold as he flies off to Kentucky to meet with his family.

On the plane, Drew meets a quirky stewardess named Claire (Dunst). Though he doesn't tell her his problems, she senses something is amiss and strikes up a conversation with him. They talk briefly on the plane, and she leaves him with her phone number. Drew thinks nothing of it until he actually gets to Elizabethtown, KY and has to deal with his family and his father's remains. In emotional turmoil, he reaches out to Claire and the two strike up a connection.

The movie is supposedly based on director Cameron Crowe's own life. It also, rather oddly, features Creator/FoodNetwork TV chef Paula Deen as Orlando Bloom's character's aunt.

* QuirkyTown: Elizabethtown itself to an extent.
* RoadTripPlot: The latter part of the movie develops into this.

* RunningGag: The Kentucky Baylors think Drew's family is from California, when they're actually from Oregon. Drew himself makes the same mistake later in the film.
--> "And that's the decision from California! ...Shit. [[GotMeDoingIt Oregon! We really are from Oregon!]]"
** Drew and his "last looks", Claire taking snapshots with her imaginary camera.

* SouthernBelle: Claire.

But before he can off himself (though not before he's given away all his possessions on the street corner), he gets a call from his sister (Creator/JudyGreer), informing him that their father has died while visiting his own parents in Kentucky. Both Drew's mom (Creator/SusanSarandon) and his sister are far too emotional to deal with the situation. They call on him to arrange the funeral and cremation. So Drew's plans for suicide are put on hold as he flies off to Kentucky to meet with his family.

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: Drew and Claire are awfully close with each other, culminating in a one-night stand. When Drew wakes up to see Claire about to leave, he catches up to her and is about to tell her something. Instead of what Claire assumed was a confession of his love, she gets to hear all about Drew's problems instead.

** Also, there's a side plot about father-son relationships in the family. It's a reoccurring theme.

* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: Actually a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot, as an unexpected rainstorm hit the day had to shoot this scene, and director Cameron Crowe decided to shoot anyway since he thought it looked beautiful.

* {{Narrator}}: Drew. Claire also includes some narration in the mix CD's she tells Drew to play on his road trip.

--> "And that's the decision from California! ...Shit. Oregon! We really are from Oregon!"

* BetaCouple: Chuck and Cindy, arguably.

* RiddleForTheAges: So ''why'' the hell were the damn shoes recalled? All that it is ever exposed is that it's such a hard-core EpicFail that it made the news, got Drew fired and made him suicidally depressed pretty much overnight. And that is it.

But before he can off himself (though not before he's given away all his possessions on the street corner), he gets a call from his sister (Judy Greer). His father has died while visiting his own parents in Kentucky. Both Drew's mom (Creator/SusanSarandon) and his sister are far too emotional to deal with the situation. They call on him to arrange the funeral and cremation. So Drew's plans for suicide are put on hold as he flies off to Kentucky to meet with his family.

Drew Baylor (Bloom) is on top of the world. He just designed a shoe for a Nike {{Expy}}. It's expected to be a huge hit. His family is proud of him. He has a beautiful girlfriend (Jessica Biel). Obviously, it doesn't last. In fact, the audience doesn't even get to see any of his success, because the film opens with Drew's firing. His shoe bombed. It's being recalled, and the company is losing millions of dollars. [[RunningGag So many millions that you could round it off to a]] ''[[RunningGag Billion]]''. His girlfriend dumps him. His career is flushed down the toilet. What's left? [[DrivenToSuicide Suicide, of course!]]

Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) is on top of the world. He just designed a shoe for a Nike {{Expy}}. It's expected to be a huge hit. His family is proud of him. He has a beautiful girlfriend (played by Jessica Biel). Obviously, it doesn't last. In fact, the audience doesn't even get to see any of his success, because the film opens with Drew's firing. His shoe bombed. It's being recalled, and the company is losing millions of dollars. [[RunningGag So many millions that you could round it off to a]] ''[[RunningGag Billion]]''. His girlfriend dumps him. His career is flushed down the toilet. What's left? [[DrivenToSuicide Suicide, of course!]]

But before he can off himself (though not before he's given away all his possessions on the street corner), he gets a call from his sister (Judy Greer). His father has died while visiting his own parents in Kentucky. Both Drew's mom (Susan Sarandon) and his sister are far too emotional to deal with the situation. They call on him to arrange the funeral and cremation. So Drew's plans for suicide are put on hold as he flies off to Kentucky to meet with his family.

On the plane, Drew meets a quirky stewardess named Claire (Kirsten Dunst). Though he doesn't tell her his problems, she senses something is amiss and strikes up a conversation with him. They talk briefly on the plane, and she leaves him with her phone number. Drew thinks nothing of it until he actually gets to Elizabethtown, KY and has to deal with his family and his father's remains. In emotional turmoil, he reaches out to Claire and the two strike up a connection.

The movie is supposedly based on director Cameron Crowe's own life. It stars Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst as the two romantic leads, with notable appearances by Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, and Jessica Biel. It also, rather oddly, features Creator/FoodNetwork TV chef Paula Deen as Orlando Bloom's character's aunt.

** As it happened, this movie bombed at the box office, and was the [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/my-year-of-flops-case-file-1-elizabethtown-the-bat,15577/ very first film examined]] in Nathan Rabin's ongoing series of columns for ''TheOnion'' A.V. Club, "My Year of Flops". It also helped Rabin define his rating system for the films: Secret Success, Failure, and Fiasco, with ''Elizabethtown'' being the first to fall in the latter category.

* TruthInTelevision: Despite some comments by people to the contrary, Claire's pronunciation of "Louisville" is accurate. It is commonly pronounced "Loo-uh-vuhl".

Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) is on top of the world. He just designed a shoe for a Nike {{Expy}}. It's expected to be a huge hit. His family is proud of him. He has a beautiful girlfriend (played by Jessica Biel). Obviously, it doesn't last. In fact, the audience doesn't even get to see any of his success, because the film opens with Drew's firing. His shoe bombed. It's being recalled, and the company is losing billions of dollars. Not millions. ''Billions''. His girlfriend dumps him. His career is flushed down the toilet. What's left? [[DrivenToSuicide Suicide, of course!]]

* TruthInTelevision: Despite some comments by people to the contrary, Claire's pronunciation of "Louisville" is accurate. It is, in fact, pronounced "Loo-uh-vuhl", and anything else (especially "Loo-ee-vill") will get you labeled as a tourist or an outsider faster than anything else.
** Nope... "Loo-uh-vuhl" may be the most common local pronunciation, but "Loo-ee-vill" won't get you marked as a tourist or outsider. This troper is from Louisville, uses that pronunciation, and no one cares. What really marks you as an outsider is saying it with an "S" sound. The local tourism authority sells a T-shirt displaying four different pronunciations, all in common use and none using an "S" sound.

* RoadMovie: The latter part of the movie develops into this.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: The aforementioned A.V. Club review [[TropeNamer gave the trope its name]] in reference to Claire, describing her as "Dunst's [[{{Yandere}} psychotically chipper]] waitress in the sky".

-> ''"I think I've been asleep most of my life."''
-> ''"Me too."''

Drew Baylor is on top of the world. He just designed a shoe for a Nike-analogue. It's expected to be a huge hit. His family is proud of him. He has a beautiful girlfriend. Obviously, it doesn't last. In fact, the audience doesn't even get to see any of his success, because the film opens with Drew's firing. His shoe bombed. It's being recalled, and the company is losing billions of dollars. Not millions. ''Billions''. His girlfriend dumps him. His career is flushed down the toilet. What's left? [[DrivenToSuicide Suicide, of course!]]

But before he can off himself (though not before he's given away all his possessions on the street corner), he gets a call from his sister. His father has died while visiting his own parents in Kentucky. Both Drew's mom and his sister are far too emotional to deal with the situation. They call on him to arrange the funeral and cremation. So Drew's plans for suicide are put on hold as he flies off to Kentucky to meet with his family.

On the plane, Drew meets a quirky stewardess named Claire. Though he doesn't tell her his problems, she senses something is amiss and strikes up a conversation with him. They talk briefly on the plane, and she leaves him with her phone number. Drew thinks nothing of it until he actually gets to Elizabethtown, KY and has to deal with his family and his father's remains. In emotional turmoil, he reaches out to Claire and the two strike up a connection.

** In fact, the whole scene in which he plans his suicide is [[HilarityEnsues riotously]] [[PlayedForLaughs funny]] in a "Is this guy serious?" kind of way. Really, an ''exercise bike with a steak knife [[DuctTapeForEverything duct taped]] to it?''
* BrickJoke: "DID I MISS 60-B!?!?!" [[spoiler: Yes he did, and he finds it on the way OUT of Elizabethtown]]

* FakeBand: Ruckus, played by Kentucky band My Morning Jacket.
* TheFunInFuneral: Or at the memorial, at least. Drew's mother took stand-up comedy lessons and proceeds to share funny anecdotes. Then the Lynyrd Skynnyrd tribute band strikes up a tune, only to send the whole place up in flames.

* HappyEnding:Yes.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Claire's off-screen boyfriend, [[spoiler:who probably doesn't even exist.]]
* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: actually a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot, as an unexpected rainstorm hit the day had to shoot this scene, and director Cameron Crowe decided to shoot anyway since he thought it looked beautiful.
* InterruptedSuicide: Drew's, at the beginning of the film.

* {{Narrator}}: Drew.

* RunningGag: The Kentucky Baylors think Drew's family is from California, when they're actually from Oregon.
* SceneryPorn: particularly towards the last half of the movie, while Drew takes his road trip.

* EpicFail - Oh yes, in fact the page quote does a decent job or describing the difference between this trope and a regular failure.

* HeyItsThatGuy: The Food Network's Paula Deen -- as one of Drew's Kentucky relatives! (According to an interview for the Food Network ''Elizabethtown'' special, she was cast after Cameron Crowe caught the special episode of "Paula's Home Cooking" featuring former president Jimmy Carter.)

Drew Baylor is on top of the world. He just designed a shoe for a Nike-analogue. It's expected to be a huge hit. His family is proud of him. He has a beautiful girlfriend. Obviously, it doesn't last. In fact, the audience doesn't even get to see any of his success, because the film opens with Drew's firing. His shoe bombed. It's being recalled, and the company is losing billions of dollars. Not millions. ''Billions.'' His girlfriend dumps him. His career is flushed down the toilet. What's left? [[DrivenToSuicide Suicide, of course!]]

** Also, there's a side plot about father-son relationships in the family. It's a reoccuring theme.

** As it happened, this movie bombed at the box office, and was the [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/my-year-of-flops-case-file-1-elizabethtown-the-bat,15577/ very first film examined]] in Nathan Rabin's ongoing series of columns for ''TheOnion'' A.V. Club, "My Year of Flops". It also helped Rabin define his rating system for the films: Secret Success, Failure, and Fiasco...which he regards this film as.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Claire's off-screen boyfriend[[spoiler:, who probably doesn't even exist.]]

* RunningGag: The Kentucky Baylors think Drew's family is from California, when they're actually from Oregon. This Oregonian troper could sympathize with the irritation on Drew's face after about the third time that happened.

* AGoodNameForARockBand: Ruckus.

The movie is supposedly based on director Cameron Crowe's own life. It stars Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst as the two romantic leads, with notable appearances by Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, and Jessica Biel. It also, rather oddly, features FoodNetwork TV chef Paula Deen as Orlando Bloom's character's aunt.