Elizabethtown (85 minutes)
My alternative title would be: Whistling Dixie

SUPER MOVIE FAN'S RECOMMENDATION: 2, Wait and Rent

Who is in it?:
KIRSTEN DUNST, ORLANDO BLOOM, SUSAN SARANDON, ALEC BALDWIN

What is it about?
Drew (ORLANDO BLOOM) is considering suicide when his own father's death interrupts his misery. Drew designed a new shoe that whistles unintentionally when worn and is a big bust, or we think it is. Down on his luck, he heads to Kentucky. On the flight to Louisville to make arrangements on behalf of his mom in Oregon, he meets a flight attendant (KIRSTEN DUNST) who really forces a relationship that evolves over the next week. As he visits with family and his father's friends—his dad had been visiting his boyhood home of E'town when he died--Drew learns mostly good things about his father's life and about the town.

When and Where does this movie take place?
Mostly right here in Kentucky,

Why see it? Elizabethtown is sweet and the characters are people we'd like to care about, but the editing is really poor and the story has holes. It is a journey into how people's lives inter-related and how one person can really influence another's. BLOOM and DUNST are "beautiful people" and they look good together on the screen. The story is really raggedly told in places and I recommend a "wait and rent" for this one, Wayne. Likeable doesn't mean good. Apparently this movie was edited quickly after being panned at the Toronto Film Festival.

How about the kids?
PG-13 for language and some sexual reference.

Video Pick of the Week
Batman Begins. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN directs this true-to-the-original comic book tale about the tragic murder of the parents of Bruce Wayne (CHRISTIAN BALE) and his journey to cope and make something good come from his great loss. The two sides of Wayne include the rich heir to the manor, with all of the fake window dressings, and his emerging alter ego, Batman. This story starts with Bruce Wayne in a Japanese prison in the 1930's as he is on a journey of self-discovery to understand the criminal mind...he is a lost soul searching for meaning after his parents' death. Flashbacks show us what happened as a boy. He is "rescued" by the leader of a band of vigilantes (LIAM NEESON), who train Bruce to be a member of the League of the Shadows. Gotham City is in really bad depressive times and Bruce decides to spend his energy and his fortune to save the city his father tried so hard to save himself.

Next week, we'll review, Dreamer, a story about a horse, a girl and a dream to win the Breeder's Cup Classic. A Kentucky horse lovers dream story. KURT RUSSELL, DAKOTA FANNING, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON and ELISABETH SHUE star.

John Fischetti can be heard Friday's on the Wayne Perkey show on Oldies 103, WRKA and can be reached at fischettij@uncw.edu



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