Road Less Travelled

Its all good.
Live your life for today, you aren't guaranteed tomorrow.
Think positively.

Blah, blah, blah.

I love people and their life philosophies. From what I've seen in life about half of us run around with these, not truly believing in them but still clutching them like snuggly, transparent security blankets.

Then there are the others of us who have a more realisitic mantra.

We dont know what the hell we're doing but we're doing the best we can.

What more can you ask of someone?

This film, which frankly I found to one of the best sleepers of 2005, seems to align itself with the latter, espousing a fun, more pragmatic life philosophy.

Live your life like a road trip.

Plan, execute, adjust to changes and enjoy the detours that come your way. Eventually we all get to the same place, its what we encounter along the way that matters.

Works for me.


Elizabethtown

First, he single-handedly loses his company one billion dollars, he is politely relieved of his badge and key. Then, his faux-suicide attempt, done in hillariously dark comedy, is interrupted by a phone call from his sister; his estranged father has died and the family decided he would return to Kentucky to handle the final details. So, you might say that our main character, Drew (Orlando Bloom) is not having the best day.

The red-eye special from Portland to Louisville provides the path-crossing for Drew to meet Claire (Kirsten Dunst), the road-trip philosophy queen. The chance encounter starts an uplifting, touching, off-beat comedy of errors.


The supporting cast playing the Kentucky family are incredible. If you haven't spent time in small southern towns, you may not fully appreciate the subtle, southern personality quirks these actors nail to the wall with screaming accuracy. I've lived in these kind of towns, so I was crying I was laughing so hard.

When its time for him to leave Kentucky, Drew takes a road trip back to Oregon rather than keeping his scheduled flight. No major highways, no high-visibility sights. The road less travelled proves cathartic, providing everything he didn't realize he truly needed.

8.0/10

Elizabethtown