Movie thoughts -- Elizabethtown and Jerry Maguire

Lots of press and great buzz for Elizabethtown lately, Cameron Crowe's new film. The ads aren't all that appealing to me, though, maybe because they seem overly cutesy and seem to be trying too hard. I must admit I have problems with what is arguably his most famous film, Jerry Maguire, though it was a huge hit and is considered a classic romantic comedy. I thought the adorable kid was the best thing about the movie (along with the line, "You had me at hello.") The movie pretends to be about relationships and connecting with people, but it seemed to me that the central message is about money and how money makes you happy (and not having money makes you miserable). Pretty subversive to dress up materialism as a love story, though appropriate in the U.S. I suppose. It also makes unnecessarily hostile digs at feminism -- the lovely Renee takes refuge with her bitter (read feminist) sister and the final major scene takes place at a gathering of bitter (read feminist) women, who sit around complaining about men, but when Our Hero comes to rescue Renee from this terrible fate ("You complete me."), they are dumbstuck and chagrined. Of course many feminists would like to have a committed relationship with a man (I'm one of them), but the film goes out of its way to make these women seem ridiculous and petty and phony. Most of the women I know cherish their female friends, whether or not they have a man in their life. And while they may sit around bitching about men, they are not simply biding their time until a man comes to rescue them -- these friendships sustain them, sustain us, throughout our lives. Boo hiss to Cameron for belittling this, especially in a film that purports to be about love and human connections. So anyway, that's why I'm suspect about his new venture, though I'm trying to keep an open mind.