AMG Review of Elizabethtown

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Being a former teenage rock journalist, Cameron Crowe has made no secret of his love of pop and rock music, or the inspiration he derives from it. He's one of the few film directors who places pop music at the center of his films, littering his pictures with references to rock & roll, even at times where it may not be necessary -- witness how Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz inexplicably morph into the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in #Vanilla Sky. Such a conscientious eye for detail does usually result in cohesive soundtracks, and the soundtrack for his 2005 film #Elizabethtown is indeed cohesive. Appropriate for a film set in Kentucky, the record is heavy on sincere, introspective Americana and alt-country, peppered by a few relatively obscure tracks from classic rockers like Tom Petty and Elton John, whose Tumbleweed Connection cut "My Father's Gone" is one of the two best things here. It's languid and atmospheric but effectively epic and melancholy, and even if Bernie Taupin's lyrics don't tell a straightforward narrative, they give the impression that they do. Elsewhere, the album is tasteful, earnest, and well intentioned, although the songs generally take the clearest, safest paths to their end destinations. Nevertheless, it must be said that Crowe maintains a consistent mood for this record -- even more than he did on Jerry Maguire or Vanilla Sky.