Elizabethtown

Not Cameron Crowe's best film, but charming nonetheless. Much like last year's Garden State (I'm not sure which of the two is better), it concerns a young man's feeling dislocated and in desperate need of an emotional jump-start. Both return home after extended absences to a newly deceased parent and meet a quirky girl. This time it's Kirsten Dunst, as one of those lovely Crowe girlfriends (or not so girlfriend). His musical sense is in top form, and the film ends with an extended travel montage across the country as a kind of lyric to middle America. Orlando Bloom gives his most layered performance to date (or maybe it's just his most layered character), and it's Dunst's best work since The Virgin Suicides. Does it all hold together? Not perfectly, but it's a good film, that despite its flaws, makes me remember how much I love small, Southern towns.