Elizabethtown

If I was still 16, I would rent this movie once a month and watch it with my friends at a sleepover until I had every line and scene memorized. It is that kind of a movie. For those of you who are not that familliar with me, other movies that have had this honour have been : Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Matrix, Zoolander, the Royal Tenebaums, Mystery Men . . . a pretty quirky lot of films. It is what Owen Wilson would write if he was a little bit less nihilistic and wanted to do something "cute".

The movie stars Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, as a couple who serendipidously meet on an airplane on the way to his dad's memorial service. He must wade through family politics to get his dad cremated and brought back to Oregon instead of buried in the family plot in Louisville, Kentucky. On top of this he is dealing with the humiliation of utterly failing to design the next big shoe, and staying at a hotel that has been invaded by a week long frat-style-pre-wedding party. Kirsten Dunst is just a good old southern girl who steals his heart with her charm, her winning smile, and her down to earth take on life.

It has classic scenes, like the one where the main character's cousin's band reunites for his dad's memorial service and releases a giant paper mache bird which lights on fire and sets off the sprinkler system in the hall. Or the scene where the main character becomes buddy buddy with the guy who is holding his week-long pre-wedding bash at his hotel (Chuck and Cindy -- Live Life). Or the one where he shows a room of disobedient children a video in which a brawny construction worker asks "If I blow up this house, will you listen to your mom and dad?"

It is not roll on the ground funny, but it is a quirky and enthralling film. I really enjoyed it, and I'm picky about romantic comedies. So give it a try, you just might like it.

Oh, and if you want to do a double feature of Kirsten Dunst romantic comedies, rent Wimbledon, also a great film. With a great leading man whose acting I love, but whose name I can't remember. Anyway, enjoy.