Sam (Christian Bale) and his fiancée Alex (Kate Beckinsale), recent graduates of Harvard Medical School, have come to Los Angeles to complete their studies. He is going to do a residency at a neuropsychiatric institute, and she will be completing her dissertation on drosophila genomics. Suffice it say, they are both very smart and equally ambitious. So far their relationship is somewhat of a mystery to both sets of parents. During a visit to Alex's family, her father advises Sam not to waste his time on psychology and to do something respectable like brain science. Despite this slight, Sam is more worried about what Alex will make of his bohemian mother, Jane (Frances McDormand), a rock music producer who has worked with David Bowie and Joni Mitchell.
Arriving at Jane's house/studio in Laurel Canyon, they are surprised to find her there putting together a single for her latest band led by Ian (Alessandro Nivola), an English singer/songwriter. They were expecting to stay at her place for two weeks while she lived at her Malibu beach house. Turns out Jane gave that property to her last lover. Sam goes into a snit telling Alex this is how his irresponsible mother always operates. He still has not forgiven her for putting her own hedonism and work above her obligations to him. The tension between Sam and Jane is thick and not even the clever remarks and fun-loving antics of Ian and the band members can clear the air.
For a few days Alex tries to focus on her dissertation but the noise and the allure of the alien world of popular music is very distracting. Soon she has slipped quietly into the studio and is smoking marijuana while listening to the group's efforts at recording a single. Meanwhile, Sam is immersed in his work at the institute with a young man who is having serious problems with his controlling mother. A fellow resident Sara (Natascha McElhone) flirts with him.
Lisa Chlodenko (High Art) is the writer and director of this love story where Sam and Alex's serious and sober lifestyle is challenged by the more freeform California way of being. There's an old saying, often repeated by marriage therapists, that when any couple goes to bed, they are joined by four others — their two sets of parents. The more Sam rants about his mother, the more Alex is attracted to her. Eventually Ian and Jane draw her into their erotic orbit, and she goes with the flow. Sam lets down his guard with Sara who's in a full court press to steal him away from Alex.
Can they grow from these extracurricular adventures or are they a sign that their love relationship is already over? Chlodenko leaves the finale open-ended. Frances McDormand steals the movie with her relaxed portrait of a successful record producer whose never-ending quest for the ideal lover has tarnished her relationship with her son.
The DVD has an interesting audio commentary with director Lisa Cholodenko in which she mentions basing McDormand's character on folksinger Joni Mitchell after hearing her classic album Ladies of the Canyon. The director is also prominent in the behind-the-scenes featurette.
