Laurel Canyon (2002)

Laurel canyon

Laurel Canyon,
I did not care for Kate B. in this role I like her more in a role like Serendipity. June 26, 2008

Laurel and Hardy Canyon

Sam (Christian Bale) is serving an internship as a psychiatrist while his fiancé, Alex (Kate Beckinsale) is finishing her dissertation on genomes. They plan to stay at Sam's mother (Frances McDormand) Jane's plush Laurel Canyon house while she is away. Jane is there after all, much to Sam's chagrin, because she is a record producer, and is trying to finish a project, and is also involved in a fling with Ian McKnight (Alessandro Nivola), the young lead singer of the band whose record she is ostensibly producing. Now we see why Sam is so uptight, as his mother's shenanigans make him very uncomfortable, and perhaps the reason he became a doctor was to rebel against his mom's slacker lifestyle. His discomfort is about to evolve into a full-fledged nightmare as Alex falls under the sway of his mother's libertine lifestyle. Meanwhile, Sara, a beautiful Israeli who is also an intern at the asylum, is trying to seduce him, but he resists...

Directed and written by Lisa Cholodenko, she based the character of Jane on Joni Mitchell. Joni is seen in a photo along with McDormand, and other photos show Bowie with McDormand, or Frances McDormand with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, which is no doubt meant to establish Jane's credentials as a record producer. There is even a cameo where real-life record producer Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan, etc.) is seen.

Besides the five main characters, a sixth character is the location: Laurel Canyon. Some establishing shots make pains to not only show the Laurel Cyn street sign, but also one for Mount Olympus, an actual street name, but also one that seems to mock the inhabitants and their lofty view of themselves for living in such a groovy place. The Laurel Canyon "vibe" is captured quite convincingly, one of the films strengths.

While a good effort, and an entertaining movie to watch, Cholodenko could have done a better job writing and directing. An introspective character study made from material that could've better suited a comedy, it is a series of small epiphanies that don't really amount to much. What are you trying to say, Cholodenko? Judging from other viewer's comments, no one got the ending. The character of Alex was thinly drawn, and her actions didn't ring true. Sam was also rather one dimensional, or at the most, two dimensional. Ditto for Sara, and Ian. Jane, the libertine mother, partially makes up for it with a brassy and bold performance. Alex and Sara are both very appealing, but Ian is repulsive, and Sam is a major wet blanket.

I don't want to spoil the movie, but there is a very unusual love triangle, or love polygon, and when it actually almost happens, I thought it would be hot, but it was over the line, and I was repulsed by it. At least it stirred up my emotions, albeit in a negative way, but then it didn't know what to do with them. All undressed up and nowhere to go.

The Top Ten Films of the Actors in Laurel Canyon

Fargo: Frances McDormand won an Oscar for her role as a Midwestern sheriff, pregnant, and with a charming Minnesota accent. All the characters in Fargo were fully realized, and this film is chock full of that quirky charm and attention to detail that the Cohen brothers are so good at. Laurel Canyon could've learned a lot from this film.

North Country: Frances McDormand was nominated for an Oscar for this one.

Almost Famous: Another nomination for Frances. Also playing a mother, but here she is the mother of a character based on writer/director Cameron Crowe, a young rock journalist. She's the opposite kind of mother from Jane.

Mississippi Burning: Yet another Oscar nomination for McDormand.

American Psycho: Christian Bale's biggest role so far. But he will be the new Batman soon opposite Heath Ledger's final role as The Joker. He also appeared in Velvet Goldmine, Newsies, Swing Kids, The 3:10 to Yuma, Metroland, The Prestige, and I'm Not There.

Swing Kids: Kind of a Footloose, but with Nazis--and Christian Bale instead of Kevin Bacon. What's not to like? Great music, great dancing, and the whole thing is so utterly ridiculous your jaw will drop to the floor.

The Aviator [HD DVD]: Kate Beckinsale played Ava Gardener in this film. She was also in Pearl Harbor, Brokedown Palace, Van Helsing, and The Last Days of Disco.

Much Ado About Nothing: While in her first year at Oxford, Kate Beckinsale received her big break in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

The Truman Show: After making her film debut in Surviving Picasso in 1996, Natascha McElhone has appeared in a few films, the most well known being The Truman Show with Jim Carrey--although in 2002 alone she made five films.

Face/Off: Alessandro Nivola appeared in this massive ego contest between John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Alessandro says: At the time, I was obsessing over a documentary about Robert Crumb [Crumb, 1994]. He had this brother named Charles, who's in the movie, and I stole his voice. I played a tape of the film for Nicolas Cage, and he said [imitating Cage], 'Ah, yeah... errrr ... very dark. I like it.' Nic had a really big impact on me. It was my first film - I'd never been to L.A., or anything. He really urged me on and gave me the confidence to be daring.

June 6, 2008

Ladies of the Canyon

Pleasantly surprising small movie, loosely based on Joni Mitchell, according to the director. Frances McDormand is great. The soundtrack is catchy, sort of Coldplay-ish, as is the band character, who even looks like Cold Play's lead singer. It's a chick flick, but it's high quality. Great cinematography. May 9, 2008

Laurel Canyon

Christian Bale is my favorite actor with Kate Beckinsale being one of my favorite actress.Iv always wanted to see these two actors make a movie together for some reason after watching Bale in Batman and Beckinsale in Underworld.I didn't even know they had made a movie together.When I saw this movie.I just loved it,especially seeing Bale and Bekinsale on the same screen.The movie is a great story of Bales and Beckinsales characters along with Francis Mcdormand.I can watch this movie over and over.Also Natscha Mcelhorne is great in this movie and very beautiful.But just having Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale is enough to watch this movie.It's worth the buy!!! Hope to see Bale and Beckinsale in a romance on the BIG screen one day that gets more wide recognition.Wish this movie would have gotten more wide recognition than it did. April 11, 2008

Lessons of the heart

Laurel Canyon is just another up scale California suburb.Into this life style of free and easy rock and roll comes an uptight psychiatrist
and his medical school fiance: his mother is of another generation.
Seduction of the relatively innocent girl friend by the English rock singer and of the psychiatrist as well by another beautiful girl
leads to a lesson in humanity. The acting is pretty good and their is a lot of loose sex and nudity, but I wasn't really entertained except by the song that reminded me of one in Shakespeare... March 29, 2008

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