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.
Review of Laurel Canyon
