Laurel Canyon
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: March 7, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
15
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
McDormand is the best thing about Laurel Canyon. She's also the most unfortunate victim of a film that seems unable or unwilling to give even its most intriguing and compulsively watchable character her due. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The spectacle of pretty people floating languidly across the screen notwithstanding, Laurel Canyon is short on conviction and long on contrivance. McDormand, however, has a ball. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Laurel Canyon lacks the sense of risk that "High Art" had, and in doing so, emasculates its apparent protagonist in Sam. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The story is less a sustained narrative than a series of scenes. But personal dynamics are the main event, and McDormand's powerhouse performance alone compensates for many minor deficiencies. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Occasionally, the film invites a more dynamic touch than the careful slowness Cholodenko carries over from "High Art." But that same care gives the movie a seductive quality that would have been lost in a more hurried approach. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie Errigo
Like a late ’60s satire played embarrassingly seriously. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The characters are tedious, as are the fussy performances of Bale and Beckinsale. Everything good in this rock & roll fantasy belongs to the sexy, worldly-wise McDormand, who makes Jane ripe, real, and irresistible. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Not a successful movie--it's too stilted and pre-programmed to come alive--but in the center of it McDormand occupies a place for her character and makes that place into a brilliant movie of its own. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
An underdevelopment of a bad idea that is entertaining, so far as it is, because of McDormand's totally unselfconscious performance. This wonderful actress is never less than interesting, and even as a caricature of a stereotype, she's fun to watch. Read full review
50
Film ThreatMerle Bertrand
Rife with predictability and lacking any originality whatsoever, the lackluster Laurel Canyon demonstrates about as much depth as one of Ian's pop songs. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Frances McDormand deserves much better than Lisa Cholodenko’s flat-footed Laurel Canyon...McDormand alone makes the picture worth seeing: Her character is a rash combo of steel and dissolution and regret. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Worst of all is the movie's finale, a noble attempt to avoid an overly-pat conclusion that strays too far in the opposite direction. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyMark Olsen
Cholodenko's new film relies on easy caricature over true character such that the film fails to build emotional momentum or resonance. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Cholodenko doesn't put much activity into her languid movies. Watching them is like sagging back on the couch at a party that has run past 2 a.m., knowing we can leave -- surely nothing exciting is yet to happen? -- but basking lazily in the pleasant atmosphere of half-intoxicated flirtations. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The plot is straightforward and predictable to the point of painfulness. Read full review
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