Laurel Canyon

Jane is a record producer living in Laurel Canyon, the Los Angeles neighbourhood long associated with musicians and artists. Her son Sam, a Harvard medical graduate, moves back to the city with his fiancée Alex, a doctoral student, expecting to stay in his mother's house while she is away. They find Jane at home instead, running sessions in her home studio for a British rock band whose singer, Ian, is also her lover. Sam, who has little patience for his mother's bohemian ways, finds the household increasingly hard to take, while Alex is drawn to the musicians and their loose, sociable world, and grows more distant from him. Sam also meets Sara, which leaves him questioning the relationship.

Lisa Cholodenko wrote and directed the film, her second feature after High Art, released five years earlier. Frances McDormand plays Jane, with Christian Bale as Sam, Kate Beckinsale as Alex, Natascha McElhone as Sara and Alessandro Nivola as Ian.

The film was released in 2003 and runs 103 minutes. It took about 5 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 6.4 rating from 113 reviews, while on TMDB it stands at 6 out of 10 from 229 votes, so audiences there are somewhat less enthusiastic than critics.