Laurel Canyon

Sam (Christian Bale) and Alex (Kate Beckinsale) are a newly engaged couple who move to Los Angeles, California to further their careers. Sam is a recently graduated psychiatrist, starting his Residency (medicine), while Alex, who comes from a very wealthy background, and is also an MD, is finishing her Doctor of Philosophy dissertation on genomics. The relatively strait-laced, upwardly mobile couple plan to stay at the vacant home of Sam's mother, Jane (Frances McDormand), a free-spirited record producer in the Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California section of the City of Los Angeles.