Failing even to off himself successfully, Drew Baylor opts for the next most depressing option: engaging in exposition-stuffed banter with his mother and sister. In a clip lasting barely two minutes, the script lays most of the groundwork necessary for the rest of the movie, beginning with Hollie wondering aloud, "I don't know why he went to Kentucky. I don't know what the attraction was." Drew illuminates, "He was born there." Just in case her own adult children have never met her before, Hollie explains, "I'll always be the one that snatched him away from them. The two sides of this family have never integrated well."

Much like in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, the most interesting character in this sequence is that of the absent father. We learn much of his legacy in this clip: he married an unlikable woman, took off from his hometown against his family's wishes, and... well, apparently he loved that silly blue suit, as indicated by Heather's unsolicited outburst of, "He loved that silly blue suit!" Mitch's fondness for that silly blue suit could scarcely have matched the sheer, teeming joy it inspires in Heather.

It is also revealed that Heather cannot accompany Drew on this errand "because of the baby," undermining her prior assertion that Drew (suicidal shoe designer) is more responsible than she is (mother, in charge of the life of another human being). The mystery of what could possibly qualify Drew as "the responsible one" deepens upon Drew's prediction of his eventual demise at the hands of a killer exercise bike. Consider the selfishness inherent in a human being who would commit suicide immediately after dumping his father's suit-clad dead body at the feet of his devastated family (especially for such shallow reasons).

Halting before Drew enters the gate, the three Baylors bond over something Mitch always said, prompted with Crowe's trademark subtlety and grace: "What was it that dad always said?" "If it wasn't this, it would be something else." We urge you never to trust a movie that contains some form of the line, "You know what [character] always says," as it is unerringly followed by a regurgitation of the referenced phrase for the viewer's benefit, as well as the satisfaction of a lazy screenwriter.

With the cueing of "It'll All Work Out" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, we get our first glimpse of Elizabethtown's female protagonist. As this woman stares at her own reflection, it is noteworthy that the viewer is granted access to this private moment before even being introduced to her. Interestingly, she will spend the rest of the movie rudely invading the privacy of others.