comment #1

Arran says ...

I'm sure Elizabethtown's reception hurt like hell (for the record, I liked it. Sue me), but the man always takes his sweet time between projects anyway. I'd love for him to have a greater work rate (he is, I should say, my favourite film maker and the director's cut of Almost Famous my favourite film), but whattarya gonna do.

comment #2

Noah says ...

I definitely forgive Cameron Crowe for coasting with Elizabethtown. It was a huge disappointment because I felt like there was a story worth telling there, but it was too all over the place. Plus, Orlando Bloom was just there like a lox and Kirsten Dunst could not have been more wrong in that part, since she was irritating as hell. It was terribly miscast. I think if Crowe had taken more time with it, maybe put it on the shelf for a while and come back to it, it couldn't been much better than what it was.

comment #3

Hopscotch says ...

To quote a review of Elizabethtown. "This doesn't feel like a Cameron Crowe movie. It feels like someone ripping off Cameron Crowe." This movie was downright painful.

A veteran sitting at Walter Reed right now, can go back and think about life and the tough times he's had. Crowe's a millionaire who writes movies for a living (and occasional magazine articles), he can fucking deal with shit and move on to better things. "Was beat up by critics". Gimmie a fucking break, I've always hated that phrase. Artists don't get "beaten up" by anyone. Even on movies that financially wreck studios, he still got FUCKING PAID FOR IT.

comment #4

Rob says ...

For me - and anyone else who hated, hated, HATED Vanilla Sky - Elizabethtown repped two catastrophes in a row.

comment #5

Arran says ...

For anyone who hated Orly in Elizabethtown, just try and imagine it with Ashton Kutcher instead. Even I probably would have disliked the movie then.

comment #6

lesterg says ...

"At times, the movie became so boring that I experienced the uncanny sensation that I could physically feel the film passing through the projector"

That's a great line.

comment #7

Breedlove says ...

Can't wait to see what Cameron Crowe does next. He's one of my favorites, and I absolutely love 'Jerry Maguire,' 'Almost Famous,' and 'Vanilla Sky.' I figured he was pretty much automatic and was shocked and how bad 'Elizabethtown' was. I don't know what he was thinking. Truly one of our best writers and directors. I expect him to rebound big-time. Although I can't say I'm overjoyed at the Sandler news. Not my first choice of people for him to work with.

comment #8

jeffmcm says ...

Which filmmakers currently reside in Movie Jail? It can't be very many because so many of the worst of them (Bay, Ratner) are still free and working.

comment #9

Breedlove says ...

Shyalmalan is another one whose work I love whose last one stunk. He has a lot to prove as well.

comment #10

corey3rd says ...

While Almost Famous won him an Oscar and praise - it did only made $33 million with a budget of $60 million. It tanked.

Singles and Say Anything also didn't set the box office on fire.

Here's a clue - as a director, Crowe's Mojo rests in the hands of Tom Cruise.

and what does Crowe expect from making a movie about a guy who comes up with a major failure? I didn't like the theme of the film. It should have been, if you're going have a failure, let it be a royal failure. People remember New Coke and XFL.

comment #11

Chris Willman says ...

Am I the only one who thought Dunst was pretty adorable in this? And I'm not always drawn to her. Whatever else happens in Cameron's movies, I always fall in love with his women.

comment #12

Arran says ...

You're not the only one Chris, but I fear we may be the only two...

Of course, when you think about it her character was a borderline psycho. Or an angel.

comment #13

sprofessor says ...

Okay so Elizabethtown wasn't that good but it was hardly the calamity people make it out to be. The storyline wasn't original, the script could have done with some tightening but the direction was fine imo. It was all pure Crowe. He didn't "lose" anything, all that happened was that critics became bored of him and decided to give him a beating. It's not like he was universally loved to begin with.

comment #14

lesterg says ...

"Which filmmakers currently reside in Movie Jail? It can't be very many because so many of the worst of them (Bay, Ratner) are still free and working."

They've both done their time. Ratner bought his way out with X3 and Bay is on the verge of parole with Transformers.

Rob Cohen is still on the inside, but The Mummy 3 might get him out. The weird thing is that seemed like Stephen Sommers surefire ticket to freedom...

comment #15

Josh Massey says ...

Wasn't Vanilla Sky generally considered an artistic failure as well?

Of course, I say that as a guy who thought Vanilla Sky was Crowe's best film. I love, love, love that movie.

Oh, and Shyamalan has ahd TWO awful films in a row, but I still love the guy because of Signs - another generally maligned film that I dug 100 times more than anyone else.

comment #16

LuckyWilbury says ...

Here's how Crowe could easily revive his career:

Hawaii Five-O.

He was offered the chance to direct the movie of the classic
TV cop series. He was tempted, but turned it down.

He should revisit the idea, if it's still available.

comment #17

dangovich says ...

Vanilla Sky was like A.I. It was interesting for awhile, until it completely went off the rails for the last third. I can't remember a movie with so much expositional dialogue crammed into its final act.

Cameron Crowe should think about bringing a collaborator on board for his next script. Woody Allen did it on occasion, with some good results.

comment #18

NYCritic says ...

Vanilla Sky never should have gotten made. It was fine in its original version (Abra los ojos). Cruise could not hold a candle to Eduardo Noriega. Some scenes were like Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho. The only good thing about Vanilla Sky was the Paul McCartney song.

comment #19

christian says ...

now crowe knows what billy wilder felt like after KISS ME STUPID...

so he should be cool with that.

comment #20

Pablo Villaça says ...

Is it just me or Cameron Crowe is Geoffrey's Rush bulkier brother?

comment #21

Pablo Villaça says ...

Is it just me or Cameron Crowe is Geoffrey Rush's bulkier brother?

comment #22

lipranzer says ...

Like arran, I'm a huge Cameron Crowe fan, ever since SAY ANYTHING. And the "Untitled" version of ALMOST FAMOUS is my favorite movie of his. VANILLA SKY was problematic, but it did improve on second viewing, and it was him trying to stretch, which I always give credit for. But ELIZABETHTOWN was so disappointing, because this should have been up his alley, and yet the only thing that worked in that movie was the soundtrack. The characters weren't relatable, the emotional scenes started off okay but then went on too long and became unbelievable, and Orlando Bloom (whom I don't like, except as Legolas) and Kirsten Dunst (whom I normally like) just didn't work.

I hope Crowe comes back. We need more like him. I'm not a fan of Sandler, but maybe Crowe can do what Paul Thomas Anderson and, to a certain extent, Mike Binder did and give a context to his persona (and avoid making a calamity, like James L. Brooks did).

Oh, and corey3rd, ALMOST FAMOUS wasn't a hit in theaters, but like SAY ANYTHING and SINGLES, it was a cult hit on video and DVD.

comment #23

The Big Snake says ...

At the time of ELIZABETHTOWN, I thought Crowe was the only feature director in Hollywood leveraging everything he had in the hopes of getting a job as a music video director.

comment #24

Arran says ...

Just thought I'd add this quote from the AV Club review of Elizabethtown, which I thought was apropos.

Only a truly great director can make a film of high artistic merit, filled with personality and memorable scenes, that's still a borderline disaster. (Think One From The Heart or 1941.) So the heartfelt and woefully miscalculated Elizabethtown may be the film that marks Cameron Crowe's arrival as a truly great director.

comment #25

christian says ...

that's pretty interesting. wouldn't say i disagree. tho i don't care for his other films, i like crowe's style and i adore the bootleg cut of ALMOST FAMOUS. a wonderful film.

comment #26

JD says ...

I don't think anyone would mistake Crowe for a great director. He's an excellent screenwriter who is generally quite good at bringing his scripts to life, using a few borrowed visual flourishes from Jonathan Demme, Mike, Nichols, Hal Ashby or Billy Wilder. Personally, I agree with anyone who thinks Vanilla Sky is his real disaster, but Elizabethtown is almost just as bad. So how are these films different from his previous four films, all of which are terrific in my opinion (especially the wildly underrated -- even by Crowe -- Singles)?

I think it's fairly simple. Crowe has said that he wrote both Vanilla Sky and Elizabethtown quite quickly (ie. 3 or 4 months each), whereas his other scripts have taken years to get just right. Both VS and Elizabethtown have moments, but they're structurally messy and wildly undisciplined. I'm sure he could have sorted these problems out if he took more time, but I think he's getting old and wants to build a longer filmography. I bet Crowe could get his mojo back if he made a really restrictive film: ie. something in real time, instead of another sweeping, all-over-the-map character study. If he wants to work fast, he needs to accept restrictions and structural simplicity as viable alternatives to his usual approach.

comment #27

cinemascopian says ...

Cameron Crowe is one of the most brilliant screenwriters alive today. I teach portions of his Elizabethtown script in my film class and it's glorious. The main fault of the movie was it's casting. the second fault was the editing. within the finished E-Town hides a masterpiece that exists in Crowe's mind and on paper but didn't quite get fleshed out on screen. Years from now, after Crowe's career is rehabilitated I can imagine him going back to this one to try and re-edit the thing. Maybe even remaking it (cause you can't erase OrBloom's lack of charisma from the film. no matter how many re-edits you spend on it). Anyway, I'm a huge CC fan and I think E-Town was an honorable attempt, that was just a bit too obese for it's slender and petite nuances.

comment #28

fnt says ...

Agree with cinemascopian. The script is fantastic, I thought it would be surefire success.

AND YET... it was cast poorly. Directed poorly. And edited poorly.

For instance, the line where Alec Baldwin's Phil Knight stand-in says "I cry a lot recently" was a great gag line in the script. In the film, they cut to a wide shot so you can't Alec Baldwin's delivering that line with the panache he must have.

(That said, Baldwin just transferred his character to 30 Rock, where he's hilarious)

Cinemascopian, what do you think of how the whole "shoe comeback" got edited out? And they redone ending?

comment #29

Terry McCarty says ...

Orlando Bloom isn't the actor one hires if the writer/director wants an actor to project grief or inner turmoil or depression over no longer being a fair-haired corporate boy.

Topher Grace would have been a step up.

Let's just say that Crowe was arrogant enough to think that the structurally flawed, overindulgent ELIZABETHTOWN could work. And Paramount was arrogant enough to think that Bloom and Dunst had popularity beyond the franchise roles that their careers are fueled by.

comment #30

EOTW says ...

Am I the only one who thought Dunst was pretty adorable in this?

I hope you were. She is one of the worst actresses around with ZERO screen presence. Why does she always look stoned? like she just lit one up and want to run for the border? She is always droopy eyed like she needs a nap or something. Maybe its the eating disorder kicking in. I don't know or care. every time she is in a movie, I want to take a nap.

comment #31

DavidF says ...

Crowe has earned one bad movie.
Almost every movie he has made has been somewhere between good and great (I'd rank Elizabethtown, Singles and the sometimes-good-sometimes-bad Vanilla Sky as his lesser movies but none of them suck).
He was involved in two of the best high school pics ever made (Fast Times, Say Anything), one of the best romantic comedies in recent memory (Jerry Maguire) and one of the best films of the last ten years (Almost Famous) which probably would have one Best Picture if Dreamworks had thrown their money that way.
So he's allowed one weak movie.
And that weak movie was not some grand Heaven's Gate with a huge budget and huge expectations. That movie was not HORRIBLE it was just, okay with some good bits sprinkled through.
It's only because Crowe is so gifted and consistent that a mediocre movie seems like a colossal failure. If this ends up being his "1941" he'll still have a pretty impressive career IMHO.
Movie jail? For Elizabetown? Please.

comment #32

JD says ...

Terry McCarty, I totally agree. Topher Grace would have been far better casting. In fact, In Good Company is a superior -- and far more modest -- film than Elizabethtown that touches on many of the same themes and reaches for a similar tone (to be fair, Weitz is also kind of ripping off Jerry Maguire).

comment #33

MarkVH says ...

Thanks for the piece, Wells - this is the kind of shit you're good at. I've been wondering what Crowe's been up to since the Elizabethtown debacle. Great to hear he's getting back on the horse.

But am I the only one who's slightly perturbed that Crowe seems to be buying into this whole Adam Sandler-as-serious-actor thing? It worked for Jim Carrey, but nothing I've seen from Sandler on this front leads to believe he's got anything approaching Carrey's chops on a Truman Show or Eternal Sunshine-type level - neither Punch Drunk Love or Reign Over Me. I'll reserve judgment, though.

comment #34

RFlagg says ...

"I had to ask others what was up because Crowe didn't get back to me immediately when I wrote him three hours ago."

Jeez, maybe he had just walked into a Grindhouse screening...

comment #35

Mike Binder says ...

Cameron Crowe lives in rare air. There's Wilder who's dead, Woody, Cameron, and then everbody else comedy wise. He's a young master. He's got no problems as far as I'm concerned. Elizabethtown was what it was. It wasn't great but it sure as hell wasn't even close to horrible. Let' s all lay low for awhile and let's look a the thing again in twenty years. What do you want to bet it plays dam well? I for one hope he picks up production a bit, does more films and we get another fifteen or more out of him.

Live clean

Binder

comment #36

JD says ...

I knew Mike B was a Crowe fan -- Man About Town had Jerry Maguire aspirations written all over it -- but I don't think it's fair to give quality filmmakers a free pass when they allow themselves to get sloppy and undisciplined. Much like Woody Allen, Crowe is starting to coast on his reputation. I'm not saying he didn't try hard on Elizabethtown, but he seems to think he can do anything... and he clearly can't. That funeral sequence (Sarandon's tap-dancing! those idiotic audience reaction shots!) was one of the most awful displays I've ever seen a filmmaker I admire come up with and the mix tape finale was a gratingly "clever" conceptual misfire of monumental proportions. And Mike, I wouldn't lump Ernst Lubitsch, Frank Capra, Howard Hawks or Preston Sturges in with "everybody else comedy wise." Crowe made a big impact with a few movies, but let's not go celebrating "the Crowe touch" just yet.

comment #37

Mike Binder says ...

First off JD, I respect what you say about Lubitsch and Sturges. Big time. But I guess I think of them as from a distant era and not applicable. Widler crosses over in the comedy sense of The Apartment and Some Like it Hot and The Fortune Cookie... (a 'bomb'on arrival, I believe???) and these to me, bleed into the Neil Simon era and are as far back as I was thinking or even like to think.

As far as Man About Town, I know a lot of people think I was aping Maguire but I wasn't.. (maybe subconcioulsy) I was actually going in a different direction and in fact wrote the movie originally on hire for Stephen Speilberg who didn't see it that way either so it's funny I guess the things that are so obviously there to pick up in the rear view you don't see while it's being made.... either way. All I can do is keep moving forward.

And I'm sorry but I do think there is a 'Crowe touch'

comment #38

Mike Binder says ...

First off JD, I respect what you say about Lubitsch and Sturges. Big time. But I guess I think of them as from a distant era and not applicable. Widler crosses over in the comedy sense of The Apartment and Some Like it Hot and The Fortune Cookie... (a 'bomb'on arrival, I believe???) and these to me, bleed into the Neil Simon era and are as far back as I was thinking or even like to think.

As far as Man About Town, I know a lot of people think I was aping Maguire but I wasn't.. (maybe subconcioulsy) I was actually going in a different direction and in fact wrote the movie originally on hire for Stephen Speilberg who didn't see it that way either so it's funny I guess the things that are so obviously there to pick up in the rear view you don't see while it's being made.... either way. All I can do is keep moving forward.

And I'm sorry but I do think there is a 'Crowe touch'

comment #39

JD says ...

Okay, I hear ya, Mike. There is a Crowe touch, but it doesn't have the monumental significance of "the Lubitsch touch," which is what I was alluding to. He's not quite in that league yet (in my opinion, anyway... and I love his first four movies). I would also argue that, while Crowe's films are full of great dialogue and rich characters, they're not particularly hilarious. They're funny in a very low key way. That's what I like about them. But his films never reach the hilarious comic peaks of a Flirting With Disaster, an Election (I think Alexander Payne's films are closer in spirit to Wilder's than Crowe's) or, hell, even a Meet the Parents. And Elizabethtown had some godawful comedy: the car hood closing on Susan Sarandon, the drunk wedding party dudes, etc.

As for Man About Town, I've defended it here before. I think it's a quality film with a better showcase for the charms of Affleck than Hollywoodland or any of his other recent movies. But you can't make a dramedy about an agent in crisis trying to secure Jerry O'Connell as a client and not expect the Jerry Maguire comparison. And I don't mean that as a slight to the movie. I think it honorably continues the Maguire tradition, crazy teeth notwithstanding.

comment #40

solange4 says ...

Elizabethtown is not a disaster. It wasn't a great movie or maybe not even a good movie but certainly not a disaster. The biggest mistake was casting Orlando Bloom. He simply was not believable as being any part of that family. Why in the world would Crowe cast a British actor anyway in this part that is so much about Americana.Kirsten Dunst was actually pretty charming in this one, surprising as she usually irritates me. Crowe overdid with the music in this one, overused it in scenes as well as not choosing the best songs to fit the scenes.

comment #41

CambridgeCat says ...

I like Cameron Crowe (and LOVE Say Anything) but to even mention his name in the same sentence as Billy Wilder, or Woody Allen for that matter, is a reach to the point of being hyperbole. Puh-lease.

comment #42

Walter Sobchak says ...

Where is this movie jail and why isn't Renny Harlin doing 16 weeks in solitary confinement?

comment #43

thebuddha says ...

I have no idea whether someone, either on HE or any other site, has ever brought this up, but does anyone else find the parallels between the Orlando Bloom character and Cameron Crowe pretty spooky? Is there any way that this was intentional?

Some points:
1)Early, seeminly well-deserved success in a lucrative high-profile business.
2)Large, massive failure after said string of success.
3)An especially public ridicule and embarrassment in a way that he has never witnessed before.
4)Total falling off the map for an extended period of time.

I know there are other points that could be made, but since all Crowe protagonists are somewhat based on him, I find it strange that he kind of followed the fate of this one, as opposed to vice-versa.

comment #44

DavidF says ...

When did Crowe have a massive failure and falling off the map??
Vanilla Sky?? The $100-million grossing Tom Cruise movie?
He's been working pretty steady as far as I know.

I don't mind Orlando Bloom but I don't see the comparison at all.

And, CambridgeCat - Crowe wrote a book on Billy Wilder and idolized Billy Wilder so...well, I just put their names in the same sentence. Twice.

:)

comment #45

christian says ...

"a 'bomb' on arrival, I believe"

mr. mike, THE FORTUNE COOKIE was wilder's last hit. walter mathau got his first oscar for it, so...but a good movie? debatable.

comment #46

Mike Binder says ...

JD, here's the thing, and the truth is it's all silly, (I should be writing) but sadly,I'm not so I'll volley once more... I didn't notice the Jerry O'connell thing until I was done. I didn't. I know that sounds unbelivable, but I just, I like him, we played poker at my office, he started to date Rebecca and I had offered the part to Chris Rock and he got mad at me because at the time it was a rap star named Suck Mehoff and Chris went ballistic and trashed me to all my friends and even in the press and it threw me off of that character and I just toned it down to a David Kelly kind of guy and offered it to Jerry. I didn't make the connection until way later. When I shoot I don't read the news or go to movies or go on the internet so I truly didn't think about it or even think about MacGuire until way later. Anyway, just thought I'd use this as a reason not to work but now I have to work.
.. I hope Cameron makes another movie soon.

Live clean

comment #47

christian says ...

live clean...and die hard?

comment #48

CambridgeCat says ...

Touche, DavidF. :)

comment #49

corey3rd says ...

Cameron's about to hit 50. He's no longer a young master. he's at least a Middle Aged Master. Plus he's been making movies for 25 years.

And when Billy Wilder was Cameron's age, he wrote and directed Witness for the Prosecution, Love in the Afternoon and Spirit of St. Louis - all released in 1957.

comment #50

jeffmcm says ...

The Fortune Cookie is a pretty good movie - so is Kiss Me Stupid, by the way.

But Crowe's movies do very little for me. I just don't relate and I thought Elizabethtown was underdeveloped and annoyingly precious.

comment #51

MoisesChiu says ...

I'm late to the party.

I defended Elizabethtown as a not great but far from horrible thing a while back. JD, I get that you want to shovel off the mix tape journey as hokey and contrived, but I found it to be absolutely inspired.

I agree with Mike that this movie will be looked back on later on as a pretty good flick. Yes, it's got flaws, and yes, Orlando is a weird fit for a Kentucky boy, but I stand firm that the second half redeems all of the first. I miss Crowe movies. I liked Vanilla Sky, and yes I saw Abre Los Ojos (sin subtitulos) a couple years beforehand and loved it. The man is a true artiste, leave 'im alone or go make your own fucking movie.