As
I'm sure you all know by now, writer-director Cameron Crowe's latest
film, ELIZABETHTOWN,
was shown at the Toronto Film Festival a few weeks ago, as an
"unfinished cut", running about 135 minutes, and
subsequently shit upon by most of the people who saw it, who thought
it went on for too long and instead of coming off as "sincere
and genuine" like most of Crowe's films (SAY ANYTHING..., JERRY
MAGUIRE, ALMOST FAMOUS), felt manipulative. Of course, true Crowe
fans like myself (yes, I adored VANILLA
SKY as well!), were still holding out for the film's final cut,
which Crowe told "Entertainment Weekly" magazine would
likely be 18 minutes shorter. Today, Paramount officially announced
the film's final cut at 123 minutes, about 12 minutes shorter than
the one shown in T.O. with the infamous Susan Sarandon "comedy
routine" at the funeral home being excised from this version,
along with a greater emphasis on Bloom's character.
I personally have no
idea if this cut will rock my world like most of Crowe's flicks, but
I'm confident that he will present a more-than-interesting version
of a movie that unlike most everything coming out of Hollywood
nowadays, comes from a "real" place, and doesn't skew to
demographics or marketing plans or sequels or all that shit. The man
remains unique and grounded, and most importantly in this day and
age: genuine. I'm looking forward to seeing this movie on October
14th and hopefully adding it to my collection of Crowe masterpieces.
Incidentally, for anyone who wasn't aware, the film is based on
Crowe's own experiences from 1989 when he went back to
Elizabethtown, Kentucky for his own father's passing. The film was
also shot in that small town.