Laurel Canyon is obnoxiously lull and a tad fruitless at times, like lazy suburbanite stoners glued to a couch, however it's overwhelmingly beautiful as it communicates softly experienced human heartfelt messages with love and real vibrancy and vulnerability. I love Kate. I tend to like Kate in this when she's laying naked in bed, or chitchatting, or just standing there looking beautiful, or wearing her glasses playing Scrabble on an airplane flight, or taking off her seatbelt in the passenger seat talking with Christian in the car applying her lipstick in the mirror visor, or kissing, or rolling her luggage by the pool, or introducing herself to Frances and the crew, or looking at framed photos listening to Steely Dan, or kindly declining invites because she's so tired, or getting comfortable in her new place, or getting ready for bed in her pajamas, or going through books and records, or writing on her computer in her glasses again, or explaining her work, or picking out food to eat, or being the cutest woman in the whole world, or jogging back up the hill with food, or getting on the back of the motorbike strapping on her helmet and holding on tight, or grocery shopping holding her purse, or offering pizza, or accepting a drink, or waking up to a cell call, or kissing again, or inquiring Natascha over coffee, or kissing again, or jogging again, or typing on her computer in her glasses again but this time with wet hair, or thinking, or hearing the music from the balcony, or sending emails, or walking in a room, or smoking a joint, or reading the morning newspaper in her pajamas again, or talking about the studio, or greeting the friendly dog, or checking out the lovely place, or kissing again, or walking by the pool again, or sitting on the bed, or smoking a joint again, or critiquing the band, or skimming Spin magazine in bed, or keeping on talking about the porno magazines, or kissing again, or going down under the sheets, or talking on the phone again, or walking out to the pool at night in her bare feet with skinny dipping Frances and Alessandro, or taking a shot, or relaxing with a drink by the pool, or hating to get wet, or stripping off her wet clothes and getting in the heated pool, or splish-splashing around, or kissing again, ok and now Frances and Kate are kissing, oh you get the picture. I love Kate Beckinsale she's so beautiful. Frances and Natascha are too. I've never seen intensely gifted Christian act so unintensively. I like it. He's Batman.

If my wife doesn't fall asleep in the middle of our evening movie, I know it's got something going for it, particularly if she's seen it several times before. I never get tired of watching this movie, either. It has Kate Beckinsale looking especially young and lovely. My favorite part is when she's out running in her leos and stops to take in the view. We see her from the rear and she certainly has a nice figure. Then there's Natascha McElhone, Christian Bale's attractive colleague at the mental ward where he works. She gives Kate some real competition, which isn't easy to do. The steamy scene in the car where Natascha and Bale confess in explicit terms just how much they want one another, has to be one of the more erotic interludes in recent movie history, and nobody removes even a stitch of clothing! A quick shot of a young blonde who decides to spend the day in the raw at the clinic provides another interesting moment for the guys in the audience. I especially enjoyed her little speech to "Dr. Bale" that "naked is inner," that she didn't wish to conceal her "warm supple skin," while alluding to the barren desert that is the world out there.Of course, the movie has much more going for it than just hot babes in erotic situations. Francis McDormand, of "Fargo" fame, who is getting a bit too mature to be judged merely for her appearance (although she looks awfully fit for a woman her age), nevertheless is interesting to watch and dominates the situation throughout the movie. The way she interacts with the the record company exec who keeps hounding her about getting the album finished before Christmas is always amusing. Her interaction with her son provides some fireworks, too. We could do without one or two of the scenes between her, her boyfriend, and Kate Beckinsale, but alas, they are integral to the plot's development. The way the band, including her boyfriend, finish off their work in the studio and arrive at the final "hit single" they will need to satisfy commercial interests, provides a backdrop that carries the story forward surprisingly well. Coupled with the romantic quandary faced by Christian Bale who must choose between fidelity to his fiancée, Kate Beckinsale, and a lustful fling with his alluring coworker, Natascha McElhone, gives this movie an entertaining edge that is not usually seen in more recent Hollywood offerings. All in all, the idea of life in Laurel Canyon is successfully conveyed. You get the distinct sense that the young couple from Boston got more than they bargained for when they moved to L.A.

the virtue of movie - the cast. Frances Mc Dormand,Christian Bale, Natascha McElhone. ball of situations, crumbs of humor, slices of Californian life style and music industry. heart - self definition out of others but as product of them. axis - character of Chistian Bale - scale of facts, words and strange world who gives measure of life. story is not original but solution is special. the pool is, in this case, not only a scene but one character, refuge, root, piece of unfinished relationship and kind of solitude. a good film but in strange form. ball of neurosis and fragile escapes, love as mist and place of the other in your existence, its end is just beginning. That is all !

If you were privy to the Laurel Canyon lifestyle in the 60s and 70s, this film is like a retro shock with all the old familiar haunts still there, and the inevitable lost generation of 20 somethings wandering the deer trail lanes of traffic to hang with the musicians. At least, this is how the premise of the 2002 version of the canyon lifestyle is reflected. Between the generation of hippie organic mama (Frances McDormand) and her predictably uptight conservative doctor son (Christian Bale) and his uber egghead grad student girlfriend (Kate Beckinsale) are the silences of a parent who did her thing and a son who didn't. Literally caught between them is the luscious Beckinsale, who comes to enjoy the hedonism the mother's world of music and a young lover (Allessando Nivola) present. She likes the pot, pool parties, and 3-somes while her fiancé dallies with the sublimated lust for a professional colleague (Natasha McElhone) who is more his cup of straight-laced tea. His resentment of mom's ability to be cool and productive clash with his inability to make decisions about his own lifestyle choices, a serious wife-in-training, his medical practice, and the possibility of affairs with other women. He is as much drawn to sin and swinging as Kate. The tension of the six characters makes the story of kids and their parents failure to communicate as old as the perennial hills. Great soundtrack with vocals by Nivola and recording sessions are added plus. McDormand is one of the finest character actors around, and she rises to the challenge of taking back seat to Beckinsale's beauty. Nevertheless, McDormand steals the show every time she is on screen. We don't care about the young couple, we care about the three-way between mother, her lover, and her son's lover...that's Hollywood!