Elizabethtown (2005) on Netflix
PG-1320052h 3mComedyDramaRomance
Shoe designer Drew Baylor costs his company nearly a billion dollars with a failed shoe. His father's death sends him to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and to flight attendant Claire Colburn.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.3/1075,675 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes27%
Trailer
Plot summary
Drew Baylor designs running shoes for Mercury, and his newest model is found to have a flaw that costs the company just under a billion dollars. Shamed by his boss, Phil DeVoss, and dumped by his office girlfriend, Ellen, he leaves his belongings on the street and prepares to end his life. A call from his sister Heather interrupts him: their father, Mitch, has died during a trip to the family's old hometown in Kentucky. Hollie, Drew's mother, will not make the journey, because Mitch's Kentucky relatives are still bitter about the couple's move to the West Coast, so Drew offers to go and bring his father's remains back. On the flight he meets Claire Colburn, a flight attendant looking after an almost empty cabin.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Elizabethtown (2005)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Ashton Kutcher was not merely a candidate for Drew Baylor, he was hired and had begun work. Cameron Crowe decided during filming that the chemistry between Kutcher and Kirsten Dunst was not right, and Kutcher left the project; the part went to Orlando Bloom.
- Jane Fonda was cast in the role Susan Sarandon eventually played but had to drop out. Jessica Biel auditioned for the female lead and was handed the smaller part of Drew's ex-girlfriend, while Seann William Scott, Colin Hanks, Chris Evans and James Franco all read for the lead.
- Despite the title, most of the small-town scenes were shot in Versailles, Kentucky. Only two scenes showing distinctive landmarks were filmed in Elizabethtown itself, because chain stores and urban sprawl had replaced many of the town's historic buildings.
- Louisville's Brown Hotel appears as itself outside and in its lobby and corridors, but its Crystal Ball Room was not used: the production rebuilt that room as a replica on a soundstage.
SPOILER
The cut shown at the Toronto International Film Festival ended with an epilogue in which the flaw in Drew's shoe, a whistle as the wearer walks, turns out to be a hit with customers. It was removed from the release version so the ending would not feel drawn out.
