Elizabethtown (film) - Plot

Plot

Drew Baylor (Bloom) is the designer of the Späsmotica shoe, a world-famously hyped but flawed new product that his boss informs him will lose $972 million and is "a disaster of mythic proportions, a folktale told to others that makes other people feel more alive because it didn't happen to them".

After he is fired, Drew's girlfriend Ellen (Jessica Biel) breaks up with him. Drew goes to his apartment, defeated, and attempts to commit suicide (by modifying an exercise bike and attaching a kitchen knife with duct tape so he would be stabbed to death when activating the bike). His sister Heather phones at just that moment to tell Drew that their father has just died and he needs to go to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to bring the body back home.

At the airport, Drew's sister and mother tell him they wish to cremate his father's body. On a nearly empty plane, a quick-witted flight attendant, Claire (Dunst), gives him a free seat in First Class. He declines but she insists because she doesn't want to have to walk all the way back to Coach just for him.

Claire, who is energetic, charming, and knows how to read people, starts pestering Drew to get to know him. She knows Kentucky well and draws him a map to Elizabethtown because the roads are "hopelessly and gloriously confusing". She also jots her phone number on the map. When he arrives in Elizabethtown, a boy leads him to the funeral home, where Drew's cousin is waiting for him.

Various members of his family greet him as the "California boy", although his family had only lived in California for 18 months before moving to Oregon. After viewing his father's body, Drew meets with relatives at his Aunt Dora's house, realizing that he has a huge loving extended family in the middle-of-nowhere Kentucky.

Drew settles into a hotel that is hosting a special event called "Chuck and Cindy: The Wedding". The hotel is a mess from all of the people partying, and Drew is pleasantly surprised by a "Chuck and Cindy" gift basket in his room that states "lovin' life" on everything. Exhausted, Drew attempts to call home but receives no answer. He also calls his ex-girlfriend Ellen and receives no answer. Finally, he remembers that Claire gave him her number, calls her, and as she picks up, everybody else calls him back. Ellen officially breaks up with him, and his sister informs him that his mother "won't stop moving" as she attempts to learn how to cook, how to tap dance, and fix the car in lieu of mourning her husband's death. Claire stays on hold and when Drew returns to her line, they talk all night, connecting. Claire drives to meet Drew to see the sunrise. Claire leaves for a flight to Hawaii.

Drew meets his family near the burial plot where they would like his father's body buried. Drew insists on honoring his mother's wish for a cremation. He returns to the hotel, exhausted from being up all night on the phone with Claire and from arguing about cremation with both his mother and his extended family. Claire surprises him and takes him out all day to explore Elizabethtown, starting by helping him pick out an urn for his father. Drew is clearly attracted to Claire and she to him as well but she continues to claim that she has a boyfriend who is a professor and is "married to his academic career."

Later on that evening, Drew is spending time at his Aunt Dora's house and he sees a photo of his father near a flame from the stove. He suddenly regrets his choice of cremation and runs to the mortuary to stop the cremation but arrives too late and is given an urn containing his father's ashes. Drew returns to the hotel to find Claire there. They talk about their feelings and conclude they are not right for each other. They kiss and end up spending the night together. In the morning, Drew tells her about his failure and how he doesn't want to be in this world anymore. She belittles the huge failure, making him realize that he's just upset over money and failure. Disappointed in his inability to see through his pain and take this opportunity in front of him, Claire says she'll try to meet him at his father's memorial.

Drew's mother and sister arrive in Kentucky for the service. After various acquaintances speak in memory of Drew's father, his mother, Hollie, talks about her husband, comically, lightening the mood, and lifting a grudge the family has always held against her for "taking Mitch away." Then she does a tap-dance to his favorite song. Drew's cousin, along with his band "Ruckus" (consisting of members of Kentucky band My Morning Jacket), begin to play the classic Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Free Bird". The stage prop, a large paper dove, catches on fire, setting off alarms and causing emergency water sprinklers to go off, while everyone flees. Claire had shown up and given Drew a special map to guide him on a solitary road trip home from Kentucky. During the fire, Claire helps evacuate the room, and then she disappears. Drew assumes he'll never see her again.

Claire's map is very elaborate with instructions and CDs, guiding him "home." There are notes of places along the way he should visit. At each one, he spreads some of his father's ashes. During the trip, Drew comes to terms with his father and begins to talk to his urn, stating that they should have taken this trip together years ago. Finally, the directions come to a point where he is given two choices—to continue home or to finish the journey Claire laid out for him. Drew chooses to use her route.

He is instructed to go to the "Second Largest Farmer's Market in The World". There is a note telling him to "look for the girl with a red hat". After looking desperately for a few minutes, he finds the girl, who turns out to be Claire. The film ends with them kissing.