Elizabethtown is cut

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.

Source: Paramount Pictures