Laurel Canyon, a street that runs through the heart of the Hollywood hills, has for decades been a sort of Greenwich Village of the west, home to many musicians, actors, artists, and other bohemian types. Among its current residents are veteran record producer Jane (Frances McDormand), her much younger lover Ian (Alessandro Nivola), and her son Sam (Christian Bale) and his fiancée Alex (Kate Beckinsale), both conservative medical students who are shocked by Jane's carefree lifestyle. Soon Sam and Alex's tight control over their lives begins to unravel, however, and 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 sun-bleached southern California landscape set the tone for director Lisa Cholodenko’s (High Art) rigorously honest exploration of relationships between people with wildly divergent worldviews.