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Elizabethtown

 Elizabethtown
type
TVTItem
 Elizabethtown
label
Elizabethtown
 Elizabethtown
page
Elizabethtown
 Elizabethtown
comment
Elizabethtown is a 2005 American romantic tragicomedy written and directed by Cameron Crowe, starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst.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. So many millions that you could round it off to a Billion. His girlfriend dumps him. His career is flushed down the toilet. What's left? 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), informing him that their father has died while visiting his relatives in Elizabethtown, 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 flight attendant 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, 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 Food Network TV chef Paula Deen as Drew's aunt.
 Elizabethtown
fetched
2024-01-27T14:30:58Z
 Elizabethtown
parsed
2024-01-27T14:30:58Z
 Elizabethtown
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Elizabethtown / int_13646b1b
type
My Friends... and Zoidberg
 Elizabethtown / int_13646b1b
comment
My Friends... and Zoidberg: The poster for Ruckus's only live performance indicates their name at the very bottom-right corner. Jesse still brags about (almost) getting to play with "Lynyrd fuckin' Skynyrd... We never played, and we never played since."
 Elizabethtown / int_13646b1b
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Elizabethtown / int_13646b1b
 Elizabethtown / int_1d47b2b7
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Unable to Cry
 Elizabethtown / int_1d47b2b7
comment
Unable to Cry: Drew, for most of the movie, until he reminisces about his father in the middle of his road trip.
 Elizabethtown / int_1d47b2b7
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Elizabethtown / int_1d47b2b7
 Elizabethtown / int_222dc873
type
Black Comedy
 Elizabethtown / int_222dc873
comment
Black Comedy: The jokes and references to suicide drift into this territory. Suicide as Comedy: In fact, the whole scene in which he plans his suicide is riotously funny in a "Is this guy serious?" kind of way. Really, an exercise bike with a steak knife duct taped to it?
 Elizabethtown / int_222dc873
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Elizabethtown / int_222dc873
 Elizabethtown / int_3104d34
type
Suicide as Comedy
 Elizabethtown / int_3104d34
comment
Suicide as Comedy: In fact, the whole scene in which he plans his suicide is riotously funny in a "Is this guy serious?" kind of way. Really, an exercise bike with a steak knife duct taped to it?
 Elizabethtown / int_3104d34
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Elizabethtown / int_3104d34
 Elizabethtown / int_32c930e8
type
Eccentric Townsfolk
 Elizabethtown / int_32c930e8
comment
Eccentric Townsfolk: And most of them are related to Drew!
 Elizabethtown / int_32c930e8
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 Elizabethtown / int_36c73fcf
type
It Always Rains at Funerals
 Elizabethtown / int_36c73fcf
comment
It Always Rains at Funerals: Actually a case of Real Life Writes the Plot, as an unexpected rainstorm hit the day they were going to shoot this scene, and director Cameron Crowe decided to shoot anyway since he thought it looked beautiful.
 Elizabethtown / int_36c73fcf
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 Elizabethtown / int_392372f9
type
Actor Allusion
 Elizabethtown / int_392372f9
comment
Actor Allusion: The picture on the mantelpiece is from Stepmom, another Susan Sarandon film.
 Elizabethtown / int_392372f9
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Elizabethtown / int_392372f9
 Elizabethtown / int_3c0a4666
type
Noodle Incident
 Elizabethtown / int_3c0a4666
comment
Noodle Incident: Whatever the heck caused Drew's shoes to be recalled.
 Elizabethtown / int_3c0a4666
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Elizabethtown / int_3c0a4666
 Elizabethtown / int_46290b93
type
Manic Pixie Dream Girl
 Elizabethtown / int_46290b93
comment
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: The aforementioned A.V. Club review gave the trope its name in reference to Claire, describing her as "Dunst's psychotically chipper waitress in the sky".
 Elizabethtown / int_46290b93
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Elizabethtown / int_46290b93
 Elizabethtown / int_469e3e2f
type
In-Universe
 Elizabethtown / int_469e3e2f
comment
In-Universe, the damn shoes. All billion-dollar waste of them. Even if the film absolutely refuses to tell us why they failed so epically.
 Elizabethtown / int_469e3e2f
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Elizabethtown / int_469e3e2f
 Elizabethtown / int_4885c04b
type
Road Trip Plot
 Elizabethtown / int_4885c04b
comment
Road Trip Plot: The latter part of the movie develops into this, as Drew wanders around in a trip designed by Claire for him to reminisce best times with the ashes of his father, release them in a dramatically appropriate time and place, give himself a few seconds to hate himself over the damn shoes one last time, and meet her in a flea market.
 Elizabethtown / int_4885c04b
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Elizabethtown / int_4885c04b
 Elizabethtown / int_49d59be9
type
Scenery Porn
 Elizabethtown / int_49d59be9
comment
Scenery Porn: Particularly towards the last half of the movie, while Drew takes his road trip.
 Elizabethtown / int_49d59be9
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Elizabethtown / int_49d59be9
 Elizabethtown / int_52989fee
type
Narrator
 Elizabethtown / int_52989fee
comment
Narrator: Drew. Claire also includes some narration in the mix CDs she tells Drew to play on his road trip.
 Elizabethtown / int_52989fee
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Elizabethtown / int_52989fee
 Elizabethtown / int_55c79f7c
type
Death Trap
 Elizabethtown / int_55c79f7c
comment
Death Trap: Notably, Drew builds one of these for himself, out of an exercise bike and a large steak knife. And duct tape.
 Elizabethtown / int_55c79f7c
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Elizabethtown / int_55c79f7c
 Elizabethtown / int_6d332aea
type
Driven to Suicide
 Elizabethtown / int_6d332aea
comment
Driven to Suicide: Drew at the start of the film.
 Elizabethtown / int_6d332aea
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 Elizabethtown / int_6d332aea
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 Elizabethtown
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Elizabethtown / int_6d332aea
 Elizabethtown / int_6d7bc0f
type
Fake Band
 Elizabethtown / int_6d7bc0f
comment
Fake Band: Ruckus, played by real-life Kentucky band My Morning Jacket.
 Elizabethtown / int_6d7bc0f
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Elizabethtown / int_6d7bc0f
 Elizabethtown / int_875615dd
type
Truth in Television
 Elizabethtown / int_875615dd
comment
Truth in Television: Despite some comments by people to the contrary, Claire's pronunciation of "Louisville" is accurate. It is most commonly pronounced "Loo-uh-vuhl".
 Elizabethtown / int_875615dd
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Elizabethtown / int_875615dd
 Elizabethtown / int_96a33f11
type
Riddle for the Ages
 Elizabethtown / int_96a33f11
comment
Riddle for the Ages: So why the hell were the damn shoes recalled? All that it is ever exposed is that it's such a hard-core Epic Fail that it made the news (and not in a good way, with a critic even saying that "it will make a whole generation go back to walking bare-footed"), it cost the company $972 million, it got Drew fired and made him suicidally depressed pretty much overnight. And that is it. Lots of information regarding the aftermath, but the reason is never given.
 Elizabethtown / int_96a33f11
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 Elizabethtown / int_96a33f11
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Elizabethtown / int_96a33f11
 Elizabethtown / int_ab5677c1
type
Boy Meets Girl
 Elizabethtown / int_ab5677c1
comment
Boy Meets Girl
 Elizabethtown / int_ab5677c1
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Elizabethtown / int_ab5677c1
 Elizabethtown / int_b01abe4f
type
Catchphrase
 Elizabethtown / int_b01abe4f
comment
Catchphrase: "Chuck and Cindy. Loving life, loving you!"
 Elizabethtown / int_b01abe4f
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Elizabethtown / int_b01abe4f
 Elizabethtown / int_b0a529cb
type
Extreme Doormat
 Elizabethtown / int_b0a529cb
comment
Extreme Doormat: Claire describes herself as one with regards to her boyfriend Ben.
 Elizabethtown / int_b0a529cb
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Elizabethtown / int_b0a529cb
 Elizabethtown / int_b4eff8a8
type
Epic Fail
 Elizabethtown / int_b4eff8a8
comment
Epic Fail: Oh yes, in fact the page quote does a decent job on describing the difference between this trope and a regular failure. As it happened, this movie bombed at the box office, and was the very first film examined in Nathan Rabin's ongoing series of columns for The Onion 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. It should be noted that upon returning to the film for a second viewing, Nathan Rabin actually fell in love with it, and recorded this as the final article in "My Year of Flops" when he published it as a book. In-Universe, the damn shoes. All billion-dollar waste of them. Even if the film absolutely refuses to tell us why they failed so epically.
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Elizabethtown / int_b4eff8a8
 Elizabethtown / int_b6cc7fc0
type
Dysfunctional Family
 Elizabethtown / int_b6cc7fc0
comment
Dysfunctional Family: Most of the dysfunction comes from the extended family towards the "California Baylors" (though they're really from Oregon). Also, there's a side plot about father-son relationships in the family. It's a recurring theme.
 Elizabethtown / int_b6cc7fc0
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Elizabethtown / int_b6cc7fc0
 Elizabethtown / int_be009bbc
type
Alliterative Name
 Elizabethtown / int_be009bbc
comment
Alliterative Name: Claire Colburn.
 Elizabethtown / int_be009bbc
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 Elizabethtown / int_be009bbc
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 Elizabethtown
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Elizabethtown / int_be009bbc
 Elizabethtown / int_c0961831
type
Interrupted Suicide
 Elizabethtown / int_c0961831
comment
Interrupted Suicide: Drew's, at the beginning of the film, due to his sister calling him.
 Elizabethtown / int_c0961831
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 Elizabethtown / int_e4f48a7f
type
The "Fun" in "Funeral"
 Elizabethtown / int_e4f48a7f
comment
The "Fun" in "Funeral": Or at the memorial, at least. Drew's mother took stand-up comedy lessons and proceeds to share funny anecdotes. Then the Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band strikes up a tune, only to send the whole place up in flames. At the actual funeral, the mechanism used to lower Mitch's coffin (which contains only his blue suit, since he was already cremated) malfunctions for a bit, eliciting a chuckle from Drew's mom.
 Elizabethtown / int_e4f48a7f
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Elizabethtown / int_e4f48a7f
 Elizabethtown / int_e52a0cac
type
He Who Must Not Be Seen
 Elizabethtown / int_e52a0cac
comment
He Who Must Not Be Seen: Claire's off-screen boyfriend, who probably doesn't even exist.
 Elizabethtown / int_e52a0cac
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 Elizabethtown / int_e9544bad
type
Good Ol' Boy
 Elizabethtown / int_e9544bad
comment
Good Ol' Boy: Most of the Kentucky Baylor clan.
 Elizabethtown / int_e9544bad
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Elizabethtown / int_e9544bad
 Elizabethtown / int_f511ea9b
type
Product Placement
 Elizabethtown / int_f511ea9b
comment
Product Placement: Kentucky-made soft drink Ale-8-One makes a couple of appearances.
 Elizabethtown / int_f511ea9b
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 Elizabethtown / int_f93d8d52
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Girlfriend in Canada
 Elizabethtown / int_f93d8d52
comment
Girlfriend in Canada: It's unclear whether Claire's boyfriend Ben can't get away from his work or just doesn't exist.
 Elizabethtown / int_f93d8d52
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Elizabethtown / int_f93d8d52
 Elizabethtown / int_f9f2c33
type
Running Gag
 Elizabethtown / int_f9f2c33
comment
Running Gag: 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. Drew and his "last looks" Claire taking snapshots with her imaginary camera.
 Elizabethtown / int_f9f2c33
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Elizabethtown / int_f9f2c33
 Elizabethtown / int_fe0330fb
type
Brick Joke
 Elizabethtown / int_fe0330fb
comment
Brick Joke: "DID I MISS 60-B!?!?!" Yes he did, and he finds it on the way OUT of Elizabethtown.
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 Elizabethtown / int_fec2b522
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Happy Ending
 Elizabethtown / int_fec2b522
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Happy Ending: Yes.
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Elizabethtown

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Elizabethtown
hasFeature
Fake Nationality / int_e80e6618
 Elizabethtown
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Interrupted Suicide / int_e80e6618