Frances McDormand in Laurel Canyon
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Laurel Canyon
a film review by Taryn A. Harris
Laurel Canyon has it all - sex, drugs and
rock and roll.
Frances McDormand is fabulous and sexy
as Jane the free-spirited record producer whose conservative
son Sam (Christian Bale) and his bookish fiancee (Kate Beckinsale)
come for a visit.
Sam, a self-professed science geek is a
first year medical resident at a psychiatric hospital in Los
Angeles and it is clear he has issues with his mother and is
extremely worried how Alex will react to his mother's "scene".
Alex is a research scientist working on
her dissertation on genomics. Her topic is on the fruit fly and
its implications on human reproduction. Yawn. She
wears glasses and spends most of her time analyzing data.
All work and no play make for a dull movie,
so Alex takes the occasional break from her research to live
a little and visit Jane's home studio. She is immediately
drawn to Jane and Ian (Alessandro Nivola) who teach her how to
loosen up.
As Alex sheds her chrysalis, Sam settles
into his residency and tries to fight the attraction he feels
for fellow resident Sara (Natasha McElhone). Was her accent
necessary? Not so much.
Everyone in the film seems to have a conscience except Ian, the
delicious Brit rocker whose motto seems to be, "If it feels
good do it." He makes no apologies and sleeps like
a baby at night.
There are lovely moments in the film when
the focus is on relationships i.e. Jane and Ian (he is 16 years
her junior), Sam and Alex, Sam and his patients and Jane and
her son. Kudos to Frances McDormand on another solid performance
and to Alessandro Nivola on doing his own vocals.
Although there are no real surprises, writer/director
Lisa Cholodenko delivers a fine film.
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