Kyle's movie review: "Elizabethtown"

Okay, so a kid moves out west to find success early in his career, but is handed some bad luck. He is informed that one of his parents died back east, so he flies in and reconnects with family and friends. He falls in love with a quirky girl and decides that he has everything he's ever wanted right back home. What movie is this? If you ask me, it sounds an awful lot like "Garden State."

All right, so maybe it also describes this week's CAC feature, "Elizabethtown." Director Cameron Crowe ("Jerry Maguire," "Almost Famous") does appear to borrow a bit of the plot from "Garden State," but he does add his own twists.

Drew (Orlando Bloom) gets fired (by Alec Baldwin) for losing his shoe company close to $1 billion dollars. Drew's girlfriend dumps him, and as he contemplates suicide, his sister calls to tell him that his dad has died. Sounds like a really bad day. On the way home, Bloom tells a flight attendant (Kirsten Dunst) his sad story, and she falls for him. While at home in Kentucky, Drew meets up with old family and friends, and helps his sister baby-sit his out of control mother (Susan Sarandon).

"Elizabethtown" is a romantic comedy centered around a tragic event. Like "Garden State," expect this to be more emotional than your average romantic comedy, culminating with a teary-eyed scene where Orlando Bloom is finally hit with the loss of his father, job, and girlfriend while simultaneously realizing that everything will be alright (just a prediction, but I'm probably right). The girls should love this movie. Guys, you better bring a date to this one though personally, I plan on seeing this film whether I have a date or not.

"Elizabethtown" is rated PG-13 for language and some sexual references. Fans of this movie will also enjoy "Garden State," "Jerry Maguire" (which is a perfect "date" movie because it can stand alone as a chick-flick or as a sports movie at the same time), and "Annie Hall" (only because "Annie Hall" is the standard that all romantic comedies should aspire to meet).