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Movies / On DVD / Laurel Canyon
Laurel Canyon

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Laurel Canyon (2003)

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67 %
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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.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for sexuality, language and drug use

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Mar 7, 2003 Limited

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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Release:

Jul 15, 2003

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Reviews for Laurel Canyon

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

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

It pulled me in with its friendly, inclusive, nonjudgmental appraisal of human nature.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/24/07
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite a great ensemble of actors, it will leave you hanging from a cliff.

Full Review Source: Oregon Herald | comment Comment
08/13/04
Mark Sells
Oregon Herald

'We're left with a film that doesn't create enough interest in what went on in those Laurel Canyon backyards to justify pulling over and watching.'

Full Review Source: Las Vegas CityLife | comment Comment
03/03/04
Matt Kelemen
Las Vegas CityLife
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
02/25/04
Lori Allen
Zap2it.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/15/04
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/26/03
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

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
Teletext

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Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/11/03
Jamie Russell
BBC

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Full Review Source: Sunday Times (Australia) | comment Comment
10/27/03
Sunday Times (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Frances McDormand lets loose in a terrific new role as record producer, mother, and corrupter of curious girls.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/24/03
Marcy Dermansky
About.com

'Laurel Canyon' is a little dangerous, a bit unconventional and very seductive.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/04/03
Frank Wilkins
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
09/07/03
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

...essentially worth checking out if only for the performances and Cholodenko's admittedly steady directorial hand.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
07/20/03
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
07/16/03
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Real people, real situations. Laurel Canyon is a keeper.

Full Review Source: Movie Boeuf | comment Comment
07/03/03
David N. Butterworth
Movie Boeuf

McElhone and Bale are more overt, acting mostly with rigid faces, tousled hair and at least 64 shiny, well-displayed teeth.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
06/06/03
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer
 
 
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