Laurel Canyon Review

"LAUREL CANYON" reviews

Movie

LAUREL CANYON

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-25 19:12:18

Provider

Review

Director Lisa Cholodenko pretty much made her name with 1998 melodrama High Art, five years later, she's back with this look at life in an exclusive area of LA.

The film centres on the free-spirited Jane (Frances McDormand), a record producer of 'a certain age' who certainly lives her life to full - she's currently seeing a Brit rocker half her age while trying to complete his album. This comes as a bit of a surprise to her straight-laced son Sam (Christian Bale) who has moved home along with his fiancé Alex (Kate Beckinsale) so they can both finish their schooling in California. Soon Jane's careful lifestyle is causing Alex's head to turn while a fellow student (Natascha McElhone) is catching Sam's eye.

Despite a reasonably decent premise, Laurel Canyon is a bit of a disappointment (with one exception). Surely the whole point of character lead dramas is to make those characters interesting or to have them embark on a journey that will significantly change them - not so here. While the likes of Sam and Alex find themselves facing new experiences, nothing really changes leaving this a bit of a futile exercise.

However if you do need a reason to see Laurel Canyon, then Frances McDormand is it. The Oscar-winner is luminous as Jane, filling every scene with life and oozing sexuality to the point where you almost forget her co-stars are sharing the screen.

Cholodenko has both her fans and her critics but Laurel Canyon won't do much to persuade either side to change allegiances.