Oh, Lizzie... why do you break my heart?

I saw the new Cameron Crowe film, Elizabethtown, this afternoon. It wasn't exactly bad but it certainly wasn't good either. Yes, there were random holes in the plot and the narrative flow wasn't exactly something to write home about but was a nice film. Orlando Bloom was pretty to look at but his acting left something to be desired. Kirsten Dunst... well, I think she's pretty but that doesn't mean she had a convincing Southern accent.

Here's the biggest impression left upon me by the movie: the music selection. Crowe is one of those directors who really lets the soundtrack tell parts of the story like letting it explain underlying themes or simply set a particular mood. Elizabethtown is no different, except the music is about twenty years out of synch with the characters... sort of. Let me explain (and my explaining I'm going to be spoiling part of the movie because I have to explain my point). Kirsten Dunst's character makes an extended mix tape/map for Orlando Bloom's character for his drive home with his dead father's ashes. First, Crowe is probably showcasing every music nerd's fantasty girl with Dunst's character. Here's a girl who has extensive knowledge/record collection and understands that subtle art of creating mixtapes, and she's pretty to boot. Anyway, I, and all of my friends, have never met a girl like that. She only exists in the pen of a music nerd who has the resources to put said fantasty girl on thousands of screens across North America. Now, if any ladies can prove me wrong, feel free to come forward and create said mixtape that would express a certain statement using music that's more from your parents' generation. That's my main problem with the selection. Crowe choose music that meant something to him, but the age of Dunst character, while never explicitly given, does not fit. Instead of 70s Elton John and Tom Petty, there should be more Bright Eyes or Death Cab for Cutie. The inclusion of My Morning Jacket, who are from Louisville, and Ryan Adams still doesn't save Crowe. The only rationale I could find was either the girl stole her daddy's records OR once dated a die hard 70s rock fan. That was the most unrealistic part of the film for me.

On the topic of music, I just notice how music really does set the tone for a social function and also says alot about the function itself. I don't have tons of proof to back this theory up yet, but I'm working on it. I'm also wondering what the lack of music says about the collection of people. Is the sound of many conversations happening at once count as a soundtrack to an event?

I was talking with a friend of mine whose a little younger than me and we were talking about iPods and he said, "People listen to music so that their lives have a soundtrack which makes them think their lives are more important than they actually are." I couldn't response because he was so right.

That's enough about music. Let's move on to other things...