By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Starring: Alessandro Nivola | Christian Bale | Frances McDormand | Kate Beckinsale
Country: united_states
Year: 2003
Running time: 101
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0298408
Laura says: “Writer/director Lisa Cholodenko, who looked at a community of drug and alcohol-addled artists in New York and their effect on a naive neighbor moves to the West Coast to take a look at a bunch of pot-smoking, boozing artists and their effect on a naive visitor. Cholodenko’s second film is slicker but less satisfying than her first, but features another Oscar calibre performance from Frances McDormand, who has simply never been better than she is here.
“Cholodenko, cinematographer Wally Pfister (INSOMNIA) and editor Amy Duddleston (HIGH ART) firmly establish a sense of place as Sam and Alex drive through the twisting roads of Laurel Canyon on approach to mom’s home/recording studio. Modern yet established homes nestle within hiding spots of lush foliage, hip, laid-back lairs of the unostentatiously wealthy, artistic crowd. Stiff Sam (Bale sports a matted down hairstyle to accentuate his inner nerd) and reserved Alex find Jane in the midst of her musicians and a haze of pot smoke. Alex is obviously intrigued, fueling Sam’s inclination to bolt.
“When Sam leaves for work, Alex writes about the sex lives of fruit flies but the good-natured decadence surrounding her cocoon begins to seep in and Alex begins to sneak out, noting the pictures of Jane with decades of rock gods, enjoying her future mother-in-law’s conversation, intrigued by Ian’s charming flirtations. She lies to Sam about apartment hunting while he lies about time spent with Israeli intern Sara (Natascha McElhone), a seductress with more lethal intent than Jane’s emotionally loyal Ian.
“This Oedipally twisted quadrangle, charted by the passing of an AC/DC tee shirt, is mostly meaningless because we’re never invested in Sam and Alex as a couple, but McDormand and, to a lesser degree, Nivola make us care. The older woman/younger man pairing have chemistry to burn (beautifully contrasted in dual love scenes with a frustrated Sam and Alex set to Roxy Music’s ‘It’s Only Love’), but furthermore, we care about Jane’s relationship with her son because McDormand makes us care so much about Jane. She may be hedonistic, but she’s certainly not developmentally disabled, as her son claims she is – he’s projecting his own fears after an upbringing exposed to the lost souls his mother and her vocation attracted. McDormand, so comfortable in her own skin here, lets myriad emotions play over her striking face without ever losing her strength of character. She’s also hilarious in a series of telephone conversations with Claudia (Melissa de Sousa), a label exec. Bale becomes increasingly more tightly wound, softened traces of AMERICAN PSYCHO’S Patrick Bateman in his accent, yet the writing and character never convincingly articulate Sam’s rage. Beckinsale is fine as a bookworm repressed only by accident of prior environs. Nivola, an underutilized actor, is terrifically engaging if more less finely drawn than Jane. He also convinces as a rock star, doing his own singing in the terrific recording studio scenes.
“LAUREL CANYON presents a charmed lifestyle made messy by the interruption of the more traditionally earth bound and Frances McDormand is its heart and soul. ” 3 1/2 cats
Michael says: “After taking on the world of art and drugs in HIGH ART, Cholodenko tackles rock & roll. Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale play Sam and Alex, a young successful couple both undertaking post-graduate studies and engaged to be married. Alex is writing her dissertation and Sam has reluctantly accepted a residence at a prestigious L.A. hospital across the country from their New England life. The reason for his reluctance stems from the inevitable reunion with his famous, record-producer mom Jane, played with passion and rock ‘n roll panache by Frances McDormand. As the couple warily agree to stay in Jane’s palatial abode until they find an apartment, her raucous, sex-drugs-and-rock-‘n-roll lifestyle has a startling, loosening-up effect on Alex. The resulting clash of lifestyles, along with the long-held struggle between mother and son is played out with grace and humor. Cholodenko realistically creates the two worlds of rock ‘n roll and medical research while exploring complex relationships.” 3 1/2 cats