Tuesday Dialogue #3 - Claire Colburn & Drew Baylor

Setting The Scene: Claire Colburn, a flight attendant, met Drew Baylor as he made his way across the country to make arrangements for his Father's funeral. Feeling  an attachment towards him, Claire gave him her number. Late at night, feeling the need for company, Drew gives Claire a call, and a quick hello turns into an all night conversation.

CLAIRE: It will hit you. It could be ten minutes, or it could be ten years from now, so it's good that you talk about it, or don't talk about it. Well, we have talked about it, but, that's what they say.

DREW: That's what they say, huh?

Yes, that's what they say.

I've always wondered this -- who are they?

Y'know, them.

Them.

The inimitable collective. Them. 

And who says we're supposed to listen to them?

They do.

Doesn't your ear hurt?

Yes, it does. And I have to get up in two hours and be charming. I'm going to Hawaii.

You'll get there and have fun.

I'll get there and sleep. It's just a little vacation I traded routes for..... I'll let you go.

Wait. Um, when will you be back? ... Hello? Still there?

Yeah. I'm just wondering if this whole thing is better on the phone. It's so much better on the phone. Maybe we should never face each other again. 

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Cameron Crowe is BACK!

The "We Bought A Zoo" trailer has all the Croweisms we crave -- the leaving of the workplace heroically, the overt hand gestures, the big heart, Tom Petty, a big romance. After 'Elizabethtown' a lot of people thought his bubble had burst -- but here he is again.. and I'm excited!





Back when Cameron Crowe was a teenager writing reviews for magazines, I don't imagine he knew that he'd be making movies someday. Cameron is the perfect director for 'Pearl Jam Twenty', he lives for music. He understands it better than anyone who isn't a musician -- and he makes us realise how much we love it too. I'm a fan of Pearl Jam; not a big fan, but a fan -- yet this trailer makes me feel like they're the greatest band ever. That's Cameron Crowe for you. He shows us the greatest little subtleties of music. He shows us who Pearl Jam really are.

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ELIZABETHTOWN - Greatly Terrible And Terribly Great

"Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous" were Cameron Crowe's masterpieces. They're perfect movies. Perfect; at least, if you like the Crowe touch; if that's your thing. Don't worry, I'm not forgetting "Say Anything" or "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" (which he wrote, but didn't direct..) but either way; these are his films; and the one thing you could say about Crowe, is that he was Crowe; which is basically Billy Wilder in color, with a little less wit but a little more romance.

And then there's "Elizabethtown," which is generally perceived as something that went wrong, which it did; or something that was terrible, which it wasn't. At least, not all of it. You see, with Elizabethtown; something strange happened - in that, we saw the very best and the very worst of Cameron Crowe. There are moments of true magic, and there are moments where it's almost cringe-worthy watching. The blame has mostly gone one of two ways. One way being "Orlando Bloom sucked," which he did, although; it wasn't really his fault, which we'll talk about soon --or-- that the script was too cheesy, which is wasn't - although I think maybe Crowe thought it was, and had a crisis of faith midway through shooting; which may explain how scattered the movie is.

So what is going on with this film? Strangely, at the beginning, the film is awful. It begins with an Orlando Bloom voice-over, which is one of the most unconvincing voice-over's in the history of cinema. Who knew Bloom could act so badly without a camera on? The way the scenes are directed and cut are also majorly problematic. The seamless feel of 'Maguire' and 'Famous' are gone, and we're left with clunky, awkward edits; which don't even flow continuity-wise. We feel like we're watching fifty different takes, cut together. That's true, probably; most films have multiple takes. But here it really shows.

Cameron Crowe made a film that he wanted to dedicate to his Father, and it was set in Elizabethtown. Weirdly, the film gets much better when we finally get to Elizabethtown. But up until that point, when it's set in Oregon, it's one big struggle. It's almost like, on some spiritual level; the film was at home in Elizabethtown but was alien everywhere else. It just doesn't feel like a real movie until twenty five minutes in. Naturally, this isn't very acceptable, and is a likely reason why most viewers lost faith.

Orlando Bloom is the wrong actor for the movie. I think this is a perfect example of bad casting. I feel sorry for Bloom (actually, not too sorry, he earns pretty well,) but this just isn't his kind of role. The screenplay was calling out for a Tom Hanks, or a Jack Lemmon, someone we believe in. Orlando Bloom, for all he tried, just didn't come across as a human being capable of any feeling. At least not as an actor. It's like that joke from "Friends" when Joey does terribly at an audition because he 'wasn't believable as a human-being.' Well, in Liztown; the character that's needed is like William Miller from "Almost Famous," he needs to be uncool, the blessed uncool. But with Bloom, you just can't buy it. He wouldn't get talking to a girl all through the night and then meeting her at sunrise, he wouldn't get the pure magic of a mix CD. The reason I feel sorry for him is that he really does try, he gives everything. And it probably is good acting, but it's not the right acting. It's not what a Cameron Crowe film needs.

But this is a film that's essentially about moments. It's about meeting someone as the sun rises when really you should be getting ready for work, it's about playing "Freebird" despite the fact you're about to get electrocuted, it's about running through a cemetery and feeling the joy of life, it's about taking solitary road trips, it's about breaking up with a girl when you're not even together and it's about learning to tap dance. THAT, is what Cameron Crowe is great at. He is the KWAN at that. And Crowe gets it right, a LOT in this picture, and he's never really gotten the credit for it. The all-night phone call scene is magic; and his use of Tom Petty's music, is magic; and the whole end sequence of the film is magic.

But overall, the film isn't magic. So what happened? A large part of it is that a film was made. And you can't force a film to be amazing. You just can't. "Elizabethtown" was a beautiful, moving, and funny screenplay. When I first read it some time in 2004 I absolutely fell in love, and was certain this would be the greatest movie of all time. It's what every Cameron Crowe fan hoped for. But how can a director live up to that pressure? The problem is: I think Cameron Crowe believed the hype. His genius at choosing perfect music for his movies had always been amazing to me. But I remember seeing him interviewed around the release of this movie; and he seemed almost smug, even lightly arrogant about how great he is with music, rather than humbled by it. And he seemed sure about himself, and the project, in a way that seemed different to how he was going back five years to when he made 'Almost Famous.' It shows when you watch the film. Some of the music fits almost *too well*, and it doesn't have the emotional impact that the director would have hoped.

When I read the screenplay, I was in love. When I first saw the film in the cinema, at the London Film Festival all those years back: I was angry. Angry for the first half of the film. I couldn't grasp Bloom's performance, or the fake sounding voice-over, or the awkward performances from Baldwin, Greer and Sarandon. But then after about thirty minutes or so, everything seemed to sink into place more, and I started to enjoy myself. By the end of the two hours, I felt true, pure, JOY. There really was MAGIC in the movie. It was inspiring, exciting, romantic and uplifting. If 'Jerry Maguire' and 'Almost Famous' are both a solid 9 out of 10, then 'Elizabethtown' is a solid 4 out of 10 yet also a solid 12 out of 10. It's everything and nothing, it's great and terrible, terrible and great. It's Crowe the artist, trying to live up to his other films; against the weight of a big-budget and a studio-endorsed movie star fresh out of that 'Pirates' thing.

Now, when I watch it; I find myself being forgiving. Underneath the many flaws, is Cameron Crowe's big-beating-heart. When he's on form, he is the epitome of a 'Kid In The Front Row,' when he's off form - he's still better than pretty much everyone else. When Cameron Crowe interviewed Billy Wilder, shortly before his death; Wilder said "Jack Lemmon was my everyman." That's one thing that Cameron Crowe hasn't found. Woody has his Keaton, Ephron has her Hanks, Capra had his Stewart - what Crowe needs is his everyman. And that's when he will truly become the legend that he very nearly is.

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The Magic Of Music

The power of music in films is probably nothing new to you. Certainly, anyone who's ever been in an editing room has seen the difference a piece of music can make - turning a rather average scene into something full of energy, or full of emotion. Famously, Quentin Tarantino uses music to pull in the opposite direction of what you're seeing. 'Son Of A Preacher Man' in Pulp Fiction springs to mind.

On those rare occasions that I find a film that has truly become one of my all time favourites; it's usually a piece of music that clinches the deal. I remember seeing 'Juno' for the first time; and I absolutely loved it. But the real clincher was that last scene, as Juno peddled her way to Bleekers house. As they sat on the wall and sang 'Anyone Else But You' together - that was when I knew it was one of my favourite films.

I guess that's the most powerful point for a song, right at the ending. In a second you can change the meaning or feeling of a film, with the audience leaving the cinema a lot different to how they expected. One of the most powerful ways I've seen music end a film was with 'Harold And Maude,' a movie that I actually didn't love that much - but the last ten minutes were subtly touching and beautiful. For those of you that haven't seen it or don't remember; the last five minutes or so see Harold losing Maude to the tune of Cat Stevens' 'Trouble'. It's truly heartbreaking. The scenes of her passing away and Harold in the waiting room struggling to comprehend it are juxtaposed with him speeding away in his car. It ends with his car flying off a cliff and crashing to the ground. Up until this point it is a very sad yet very moving end to the film. But then the camera tilts up to reveal him on the edge of the cliff, Banjo in hand. What happens next is truly sublime.

He begins plucking away at his Banjo. And he picks out a bit of 'If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out' -- and then the real version by Cat Stevens plays - Harold walks away from the camera, dancing about on the hillside whilst playing his Banjo as the credits begin to roll. Not only is it very moving, but strangely inspiring and uplifting - a complete reversal of the scenes before it. It's a true piece of movie magic.

Similarly, the film 'Rushmore' has an inspired ending. The film ends with the song 'Ooh La La' by The Faces, and it seems to inform the whole movie; it adds a different flavour to the film, right at the very end.

What fascinates me about these great examples is how they're not just great cinema or good choices, they transcend that.. they're examples that have stuck with me long after I saw them, there's something a little magic about them. Can filmmakers do this on purpose; can they KNOW how perfect a Cat Stevens song can fit, or can they only hope?. I always found Cameron Crowe to be incredible at hitting the right tone with music in his movies. Who can forget Paul McCartney's 'Singalong Junk' in Jerry Maguire when Jerry is fixing Dorothy's strap on the front porch, or perhaps more famously -- the band-in-the-bus sing-along of 'Tiny Dancer' in 'Almost Famous' or the elegant score of Nancy Wilson when William runs back to his Mother's car after agreeing to go to Morocco with Penny Lane.

But then Crowe made 'Elizabethtown'.

In interviews everywhere he kept talking about the importance of music in his movies, he even had a podcast explaining his music in the film. He flaunted this great skill he had everywhere -- take a look at this documentary, where he has that smug look on his face, - feeling very proud of his work - but the problem is, it doesn't work. I mean, sure, it works. The scenes have the effect he wants as a Director. But they don't reach the viewer in the way Springsteen's 'Secret Garden' did in 'Jerry Maguire' - they're simply functional. It was too much of a conscious effort by Crowe, and it just seems self-indulgent.

So I guess it only really works when it's by accident, or at least not as carefully executed as with the previous example. And I guess it's a really personal thing as well. Maybe the ending to Rushmore isn't all that great, it's just that 'Ooh La La' by The Faces happens to be one of my all time favourite songs. But sometimes things just fit - like all the 80's music in The Wrestler. The writer put those in the script, they were intended - apart from 'Sweet Child Of Mine' which Mickey Rourke wanted to use. And funnily enough, when you hear that tune in the film it is incredibly apt and moving-- more so than was probably expected.

Anyways, I'm going to carry on watching movies in the hopes that a piece of music moves me when I least expect it - because on those rare occasions that it happens, it's more powerful than any piece of dialogue. I leave you with a clip of my all time favourite scene with my favourite piece of film music. The film is Dito Montiel's 'A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints' - a film that throws its energy and ideas in a million different places (I mean this in a good way) -- but it's not until this scene that you realise what the film means to you. The beautiful piano music is unlike anything in the film up to that point, and along with the deceptively simple Directing and the astonishingly pitch-perfect acting performances; it's a scene that has always struck me as being perfect.

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