Laurel Canyon (July 19/03)

Laurel Canyon is one of those movies that, though it's not terribly interesting or even original, still manages to entertain due mostly to some fantastic performances. The film, not surprisingly, is set in the fabled Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles - a spot that was infamous in the '70s for being a hotbed of creativity and drug use among arty types.

Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale star as Sam and Alex, a well-to-do couple in the midst of a move to California - he to start an internship at a mental hospital and she to finish her complicated dissertation. Until they find somewhere to live, Sam suggests they stay with his mother, Jane (Frances McDormand). Jane, who lives in Laurel Canyon, is a successful music producer currently overseeing the latest album for a band led by the charismatic Ian (Alessandro Nivola) - who just happens to be sleeping with Jane. While Sam struggles to accept his mother's bohemian ways, the equally uptight Alex finds herself intrigued by Jane's free-and-easy lifestyle.

Laurel Canyon's been written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, and it's clear that she's in no hurry to tell this story. The deliberate pace (which is really just a polite way of saying the movie's slow) is exacerbated by a lack of plot, but Cholodenko does such a fantastic job of establishing the mood of this specific place that it's easy enough to overlook the film's faults (to a certain extent). Along with cinematographer Wally Pfister, Cholodenko takes Jane's mansion and turns it into a world in itself; the scenes set there have a dreamy quality to them, while everything else has a decidedly harsher edge.

But the film is perhaps too laid back in its execution, preventing the viewer from ever really connecting with the material. And while there's no denying that we've come to really know these characters by the time the end credits roll, the only figure in the film that's really compelling is McDormand's Jane. It's a well-written part, and McDormand is incredibly effective as this jaded but pragmatic survivor of a decade that was all about experimentation. And though she's gotten older, she doesn't seem to have changed much; it's easy enough to picture Jane behaving exactly the same way twenty years earlier (the only difference is, now she feels guilt about her actions).

The sense of realism doesn't extend to all the characters, though, as Alex's speedy transformation from bookish introvert to weed-smoking hippie is somewhat unconvincing (to say the least). It's never made entirely clear why Alex takes to this lifestyle as quickly as she does, and watching her make out with Ian and Jane requires more than just a little suspension of disbelief. Sam's arc, involving with a fellow doctor (played by Natascha McElhone), is a bit more reasonable simply because it's more plausible. It's easy enough to buy the fact that Sam would be tempted to stray, especially considering Alex's radical personality shift - but it's a little more difficult to accept that Alex would be willing to participate in a three-way with her boyfriend's mother.

Having said that, the film is essentially worth checking out if only for the performances and Cholodenko's admittedly steady directorial hand. And the music's not bad, either.