LAUREL CANYON
Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko.
Produced by: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte & Susan A. Stover.
Written by: Cholodenko.
Director of Photography: Wally Pfister.
Edited by: Amy E. Duddleston.
Music by: Mark Linkous (songs) & Craig Wedren.
Released by: Sony Picture Classics.
Country of Origin: USA.103 min. Rated: R.
With: Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natascha McElhone & Alessandro Nivola.

An engaged couple, Sam (Bale) and Alex (Beckinsale), leave their Boston ivory tower and move back to his hometown, hedonistic LA. More competitors than lovers (their idea of fun is to play Scrabble), they are to live at his mother’s bucolic Laurel Canyon home while he fulfills his medical school residency and she finishes her dissertation on the reproductive behavior of the fruit fly. However, to Sam's annoyance, the house isn’t empty as planned. His mother Jane (McDormand, photo above), a well-known rock music record producer, is laboring in her home recording studio when she is not partying with the band and sleeping with lead singer Ian (the charming Nivolo), who is the same age as her son. Sam mockingly describes Jane to Alex as mentally disabled, but, Alex, upon finally meeting her, is drawn to Jane’s blunt and sensual nature. Laurel Canyon’s theme, the struggle of the physical versus the intellectual, is heavy-handidly played out as Sam is pursued by another medical student Sara (McElhone) and Alex loosens her rigid self-control to stop and smell the marijuana. Equally blatant are the characterizations: Sam is so judgmental that he doesn’t consider taking the medicine he offers others, and Alex is so controlling that she even directs Sam in lovemaking. Despite the stereotypes (including Alex’s stuffy WASPy parents and a crass music executive), director/writer Cholondenko’s humorous dialogue livens many scenes. When Sam won’t put out, Sara scolds him, "You’re just like a girl. That’s why I like you." The film is helped tremendously by a stellar cast, especially McDormand playing Jane as a mischievous child, and a blushing Bale. However entertaining the movie may be, one wishes that Cholondenko didn't, like Alex, just flirt with danger, but actually went all the way and heightened the conflicts. As it is, one may be left with the feeling of dramatis interruptus. KT
May 5, 2003

DVD: Rather than watch the entire film with director Cholodenko’s commentary, the featurette, consisting of her interviewed, is succinct and includes much information that is found in her commentary. However, you’ll miss the backhanded put-downs of Pearl Harbor and McElhone's accent. She also responds to the complaint that the characters don’t fully succumb. She’d rather have them “screw up modestly” and thus keep their integrity. KT July 21, 2003