Old Kentucky Home
There are a lot of movies I have wanted to see lately. Antonello and I haven't been renting as many films as we normally do (we're not big into going to the theatre). So while we were there at the video rental last night, there were all sorts of films I would have liked to pick up and see, but it was Valentine's Day. We had to get something a little bit romantic.So the one romantic film that's been on my list for a while now is Elizabethtown. It's a Cameron Crowe film--and I love his stuff, and his soundtracks especially (think Almost Famous), and it stars Orlando Bloom (as a Kentucky native? His English accent is hard to hide) and Kirsten Dunst. Anyway, in reality I didn't even know what the film was about. I knew it was a romantic film. I knew it starred Orlando Bloom. We rented it.
I don't really do film reviews here, so I don't know what to say. I liked the movie--it was a bit slow at times, but the story in general was a good, sweet story. What I liked most about this film, though, was what it made me remember. The movie starts out on the west coast, but suddenly takes a turn back to the Midwest--specifically Louisville, Kentucky. More specifically, a midwest/southern feel in the city of Elizabethtown.
I've been to Kentucky quite a bit, and Antonello and I shared our first American road trip driving down to Mammoth Cave, wheeling through the countryside around Lexington, taking the long way. It's a gorgeous state--the landscape, the towns, the history, the culture. And the people--as Crowe shows in this film--really make Kentucky the warm and familiar place that it is.
It doesn't stop there though: accompanied by another brilliant Crowe soundtrack, Orlando Bloom's character takes a detailed map and a bunch of mix tapes on a road trip back to the West, and it's incredible. Stops along the way--through Kansas, Oklahoma, Memphis, South Dakota--are steeped in the history, culture, and sheer beauty of this part of America. It's not Hollywood-like at all. It feels more like home, these places that are truly bits and pieces of the America that I've always loved.
Anyway, it was a good film to see, and I'd reccommend it simply to hear Bloom's version of an American accent, listen to the music of America's heartland, get a sense of what "southern hospitality" means, and watch the states pass by on Bloom's way back home.
Have a great weekend everyone! Any future movie suggestions?
-Jackie
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