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.

I'm sure those reading this review have read the plot, so there is no need to go into it again. Frances McDormand transforms herself into yet another different character, Jane, than what she has played before, that of a Rock n' Roll producer who liked the 60's and 70's and decided to never leave the lifestyle, and she does it effortlessly and beautifully. That said, her character is a cliché, at best, which probably helped her step into that role. That is one of the problems with this movie. Most of the characters are clichéd caricatures of what we expect to see. In fact, the plot is so clichéd that you know what is going to happen about 10 minutes into the movie. Another problem with this movie is that if the character is not a cliché, it is an unbelievable character. There are two very noticeable and unbelievable deviations from the cliché. One is in Sam (Christian Bale). Sam is Jane's adult son and is the opposite of his mother, having disliked the lifestyle she immersed him in as a boy. He is pretty conservative and has recently graduated from Harvard Medical School. I've yet to see the son of anyone in that lifestyle decide they want to work long hours at a respectable job. Not very believable. But, Bale puts in a fine performance and is very likable and appealing to the audience. In Bale's case, it is not his fault that he is playing an unbelievable character, because he is very believable as a conservative Psych Doc. The problem lies in the writing of what created this character, his history. The second deviation is in Alex (Kate Beckinsale). Alex is Sam's girlfriend who has not only graduated from Harvard Medical, but is currently working on her dissertation. We're supposed to believe that Alex is so naive and has been so protected that once exposed to the lifestyle of Jane and the rock band she is producing, that she loses her inhibitions and ambition that has gotten her this far. Her slouch towards hedonism is brought about, not by Jane, but by her rock band's lead singer, Ian (Alessandro Nivola), who is also Jane's lover. The only problem is that there is no chemistry between Ian and Alex. There are a few witty comments and you can clearly see the actors looking on at each other to show there is an attraction. They don't even try to hide their supposed attraction when Sam is around (also unbelievable). Ian is yet another clichéd character in this mishmash of cliché and unbelievability. See this movie because both Frances McDormand and Christian Bale are masters of their craft and can pull you into any character they possess. But, expect to see them do this in a pathetic story line.

There's a clash of cultures, families and sexual orientations in "Laurel Canyon", and I enjoyed all of it. Sam (Christian Bale) and Alex (Kate Beckinsale) are an uptight, New York couple in complete control of their lives, until they move in with Sam's mother Jane (Frances McDormand) who is a loose hippie (in all senses of the words). Jane also has a slew of rock-and-roll men living in her house, most notably, Ian (Alessandro Nivola), her primary boyfriend with an irresistible accent - but then again Jane and Ian don't really label anything, especially relationships.As Sam grows increasingly frustrated by his mother's lifestyle, Alex grows increasingly intrigued by it. Sam's need to control everything can get annoying, but Bale plays well off of Beckinsale's quiet energy. The sexual tension between Beckinsale, Nivola and McDormand is electric and is able to keep driving the film forward.The dialogue is funny enough and the actors are all very good that they make up for the slightly predictable plot. At the Independent Spirit Awards, Frances McDormand was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Alessandro Nivola for Best Supporting Actor. Well deserved nominations and quite possibly the best performances of their careers. Be prepared for sexual energy in every direction, but I recommend "Laurel Canyon".

Very fine piece of film making. The words that spring to mind here are, 'heart warming' and this is a word that if I see it attached to a film, I run a mile. But here the exceptional character development allows us to initially 'take in' the person portrayed and then gradually have to 'reassess' because just like real folk, things are just not that simple. And it is therefore appropriate to call this film 'heart warming' in a good way because we are learning about the characters , their interplay and our own involvement. Simply put it makes us feel good that even when we see people portrayed as bad, lazy, stupid, selfish we can still come to see them through another light as good, hard working, intelligent and helpful. In different circumstances and with different people we can all be different too.