In perhaps his most famous parable, Jesus tells the story of a son who leaves his home and father behind to find success in the world on his own terms. When the "prodigal son's" career proves to be a complete failure he decides to return home on his knees, hoping to be given a second chance by a father he has never really taken the time to know.
In Elizabethtown, Cameron Crowe has resurrected this time-worn but deeply profound theme and given it a twist: The father dies before the son can return home.
While the son, Drew (played by Orlando Bloom), never really shows guilt or contrition he does radiate an odd combination of depressed fatalism and whimsy (the latter of which serves as the emotional metaphor for the film).
A over-cheerful and bouncy stewardess, Claire (played by Kirsten Dunst), gushes and manipulates her way (whimsically, of course) into his heart; redeeming him from his self-centered "it's all about me" attitude in the process.
A wonderful ensemble of earthy-quirky characters at first mystify and finally endear themselves to Drew as he discovers honest love and affection among his father's family and friends in their hometown: Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Unlike Jesus' parable, there is no way for Drew to discover his father's love and acceptance face to face. All of that must come second hand from those who knew his father better than he ever had himself. As the unhurried (but never slow) movement of the story unfolds Drew begins to see a depth of character, humor and steadfastness in his mother and others that he has never noticed before....and has most certainly never seen in himself.
The romance between Drew and Claire spirals, joins, leaps and separates much like a man and a woman in a pairs skating performance. In the end, there is a dramatic "lift" which leads to a closing pirhouette. It is, of course, Claire who both "lifts" Drew out of his depression and sweeps him off his feet in the end.
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