Runtime: 103

Director: Lisa Cholodenko

Cast:

Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natascha McElhone, Alessandro Nivola

Among the residents of bohemian Hollywood street, "Laurel Canyon," is Jane (Frances McDormand), a veteran record producer, trying to come up with a hit single for a British band whose lead singer Ian (Alessandro Nivola) is her much younger lover.

Jane‘s son Sam (Christian Bale) – who has devoted his life to being anyone but his mother‘s son – arrives with his fiancee Alex (Kate Beckinsale) to stay in Jane‘s home which she had promised would be vacant. And once in the house, Sam and Alex‘s tight control over their lives begins to unravel. Increasingly, Alex finds herself seduced by Jane and Ian, leaving Sam adrift, vulnerable to the approach of fellow medical resident Sara (Natascha McElhone).

The Brit–pop sounds of Ian‘s band and the sunbleached southern California landscape set the tone for this rigorously honest exploration of relationships between people with wildly divergent world views.