'Elizabethtown': The title character is the star

Forgive the first third of the movie. Forgive the silliness. Forgive the stumbling script, the fumbling dialogue, the flat narration, the unfunny jokes.

Forgive it all. Eventually, "Elizabethtown" rewards your mercy.

It takes a while; there's a lot to forgive. But by the time the band strikes up "Free Bird" at the funeral — and I'm not making that up — the silly romantic comedy has evolved into something more akin to a hysterical love story.

Paramount Pictures 'Elizabethtown' B- The verdict: Excellent music and some funny and genuinely touching moments — if you can endure the awful first third of the movie. Director: Cameron Crowe Starring: Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Biel, Judy Greer Run time: 133 minutes Release date: Oct. 14, 2005 Rating: PG-13 for language and some sexual references. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Elizabethtown'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

While you wait for the movie to get better, there's excellent music. Writer-director Cameron Crowe applies an over-ample selection of tunes from the likes of Elton John, Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac — so many, so often that it's clear he's anticipating CD soundtrack sales.

But even better than the soundtrack is a standout acoustic score composed by Crowe's wife, Nancy Wilson. The guitar-playing sister from "Heart" since the '70s, she also has composed for some of her husband's earlier movies, including "Almost Famous" and "Jerry Maguire." The couple were clearly in sync for this film; every time the director gets in trouble — which is often — he turns to his wife's music to rescue him. Usually, it works.

But before you can get that far along, you first must follow the painfully stale opening narration in which Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) tells his tale:

A neophyte designer, Drew is given a spectacular chance to create a new product for a national shoe company. The resulting flop costs the boss hundreds of millions of dollars — and costs Drew his fledgling career and, consequently, his gold-digging girlfriend, Ellen (Jessica Biel), who dumps him to seek new prey.

Just as the devastated Drew decides to do himself in, the phone rings. His sister has more bad news; their dad has suffered a heart attack and died while visiting kin in his hometown of Elizabethtown, Ky.

Their grieving West Coast mom (Susan Sarandon), who never liked dad's quirky Kentucky family anyway, charges Drew with the task of settling his father's affairs and bringing his remains back home to Oregon. On the near-empty plane to Louisville, flight attendant Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst) becomes preoccupied with drawing Drew out of his melancholy.

It is difficult to describe just how bad these early performances are. Sarandon and Bloom are given bad material to work with, and they work with it badly. Dunst's appearance adds a catalyst for some romantic chemistry, but her hyperactivity in the early going leaves you wondering if you can get your money back from the ticket window.

Don't. The title character is about to show up, and that marks the turning point.

Elizabethtown itself tones the movie down just enough with its folksy, heartland charm — accompanied, of course, by Wilson's folksy, charming score. Minor characters, some of them quite good, begin to flesh out the story.

Because any self-respecting Southern funeral will have plenty of food, it's not surprising that we find Aunt Dora in the kitchen. She's played convincingly by Paula Deen of Food Network's "Paula's Home Cooking," whom you half expect to rattle off a recipe for pork chops and pineapple pie. Chuck, a bridegroom whose reveling wedding party has overtaken Drew's hotel, is given a suitably over-the-top performance by Jed Rees.

Amidst the din of families gathered for Chuck's wedding and dad's funeral, Drew and Claire's romance begins to click. From here, the film finds smoother sailing. The stars have a clumsy chemistry that may not be the least bit intentional, but that seems fitting to the clumsy story. By the time Drew's family unites for a wacky, touching memorial service — punctuated by an offbeat, captivating speech by Sarandon as the widow — they finally produce both the romance and the comedy that this romantic comedy lacked.

But forgiveness may require a little more. And there is a little more. Drew still must transport his dad's cremated remains back to Oregon. Orchestrated by Claire, his cross-country drive with dad becomes a travelogue of Americana — once again sewn together with moving music.

None of this is enough to make "Elizabethtown" a particularly memorable movie. But in the end, it's enough to forgive its early flaws, even as bad as they are.