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Laurel Canyon

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Laurel Canyon (2003)

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Reviews Counted:107

Fresh:72

Rotten:35

Average Rating:6.4/10

Consensus: Though the movie itself is flawed, McDormand is fantastic as Jane.

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $3,596,939

Synopsis: Laurel Canyon is a street that runs through the heart of the Hollywood Hills, joining the middle-class, stolid environs of the San Fernando Valley to the heart of the city of Los Angeles. The... Laurel Canyon is a street that runs through the heart of the Hollywood Hills, joining the middle-class, stolid environs of the San Fernando Valley to the heart of the city of Los Angeles. The canyon is notable for its varied residents through the years and has served, and continues to, as the home to many rock stars, musicians, performers, producers, and the like. Among its current residents are Jane (Frances McDormand), a legendary record producer, currently producing an album for a British band whose lead singer Ian (Allesandro Nivola) is her much younger lover. Jane and the band are creating the album in her Laurel Canyon house where she has a recording studio. Jane’s son Sam (Christian Bale) and his fiancée Alex (Kate Beckinsale) are both recent graduates of Harvard medical school. Conservative, solid and serious, the couple find it necessary to move to Los Angeles to complete their studies: Sam is completing his Residency at the renowned Hausman Neuropsychiatric Institute, while Alex is intent on completing her dissertation on Drosophilia Genomics. Jane has offered her Laurel Canyon home for them to stay in, promising that it will be vacant. But when Sam and Alex arrive Jane and the Band are still working in Jane’s home recording studio to complete the album. Sam and Alex begrudgingly stay at Jane’s house until they can find an alternative place to live. Once in the house, however, things begin to slowly unravel. Alex’s attraction to Jane’s and Ian’s freewheeling lifestyle and Sam’s hesitancy about renewing a relationship with his wayward mother as well as his growing attraction to fellow medical resident Sara (Natascha McElhone) slowly fill the house with tension and doubt... -- © 2002 Sony Pictures Classics [More]

Starring: Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natascha McElhone

Starring: Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natascha McElhone, Alessandro Nivola, Melissa De Sousa

Director: Lisa Cholodenko

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Screenwriter: Lisa Cholodenko
Producer: Susan A. Stover, Jeff Levy-Hinte
Composer: Craig Wedren
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Reviews for Laurel Canyon

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The devices that run this strained comedy are as shallow as some of the residents in the titular Hollywood neighborhood.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
03/07/03
E! Online
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N/R

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Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
04/11/03
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
07/02/03
Boston Phoenix
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
07/16/03
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Full Review Source: Sunday Times (Australia) | comment Comment
10/27/03
Sunday Times (Australia)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/15/04
Guardian [UK]
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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
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What rescues this situation from the formulaic banality it seems to be headed toward is the seriousness with which the filmmakers take the actual work being done by the various characters.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
03/06/03
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

If there is one reason to see Laurel Canyon, it's to witness McDormand in the kind of role she's long deserved.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/11/03
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No matter how many times she pushes her specs up her nose Beckinsale is never going to be believable as a nerd. Bale as a psychiatrist: it’s easier to envisage him as Batman.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
11/14/03
Annette Dasey
Annette Dasey
Teletext

But what holds the film together is Frances McDormand’s riveting, unapologetic performance as Jane.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
03/30/03
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

Self-discovery seems to be the goal, but the revelations hardly seem worth the work.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
04/18/03
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

McDormand seems to know how to get the most out of the smoggy material, giving one of her most natural and appealing characterizations.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
03/07/03
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

Laurel Canyon isn’t about philandering but it’s about something just as real: emotional drift. The film captures with razor precision the subatomic electric spark between two people who are feeling and fighting an attraction to one another.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Today | comment Comment
03/10/03
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Entertainment Today

Although the film occasionally feels a bit forced or manipulative, it never loses its overall sense of credibility. Frances Mcdormand is simply great as Jane, and as usual never disappoints

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
03/07/03
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

McDormand is superb. Likewise Bale and Nivola.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
04/17/03
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

From the choice of L.A.’s musical bohemia to finding the right tension in each scene, director Lisa Cholodenko has hit another home run.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
06/04/03
Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown
FilmStew.com

The hills are alive with the sound of rock and roll, and the people of Laurel Canyon are learning new songs to live by.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
03/28/03
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com
 
 
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