laurel canyon (2002). directed by lisa cholodenko.

this film is dreamy but do not be misled by the apparent calmness. a clash of opinions and divergent lifestyles is simmering underneath - christian bale and kate beckinsale as the buttoned down ivy league doctoral students, the wonderful frances macdormand as the hedonistic-devil-may-care-record-producer mother to bale, alessandro nivola as the opportunistic vocalist of the band macdormand is producing and natascha mcelhone as the seductive israeli doctor where bale is interning. five characters - and yet so much tension undulating under the surface which is more than i can gather for all final destination movies put together.  

in this movie, bale was raised by his mother in the entertainment industry which he perceived as self-destructive and vowed to get away at all costs. he went into medicine and met beckinsale, a doctoral student who is finishing a thesis on genetics. failing to get an apartment in los angeles where bale is interning, they decided to stay at macdormand's house in laurel canyon. once again bale encountered the "aimless-musician-types" he had loathed so much as his mother is producing a record of a rock band, and as numerous times before, she is sleeping with the band's vocalist many years her junior. beckinsale who was not exposed to the lifestyle in the entertainment industry is curious of bale's mother and her much younger lover. 

like in real life, climax of events are very much understated. life goes on as usual and people try to pick up the pieces of the aftermath. i don't know if the characters are much changed after that - nivola will always try to take advantage of young women's naivety and fascinations with wanna-be-rock-stars, there will always be another beckinsale who wants to get sucked into the blurred morality of being in a so called creative environment (that is demanded by the entertainment industry?), there will always be a bale who knows the whole deal but can't do anything about it, and lastly, there is always be a macdormand who can't see anything wrong with having a little fun. 

welcome to laurel canyon.