2 things I learned from this movie

woods character isnt nearly as bad and rebellious as the 1 in thirteen. or pretty persuasion but in that she desperatly wants her fathers attention.

I have lived in LA for four years, and I don't plan on staying here for too many more years, but LA isn't all bad. Some good things:

* If you like theater, plays, live music, etc., there are hundreds to choose from. Playing tonight.
* If you like museums, LA has dozens on all sorts of subjects. The Getty, LACMA, Skirball, MOCA, to mention a few of the bigger ones.
* If you like nature, LA is less than three hours drive from three deserts, four mountain ranges, four large forests including three national parts, and a hundred beaches on the Pacific Ocean.
* LA is home to dozens of expatriate colonies and their restaurants, theaters, markets, etc. Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Armenian, Ethiopian, Persian, etc.
* If you like ethnic food of any variety, LA has a minimum of six restaurants of that type. Probably more.
* It is possible to find several open-air markets each morning and evening where you can find the freshest produce, fish, and meat that ever crossed your lips. (If you use these markets regularly, you can actually learn the names of the people who grew and raised your food).
* If you stay close the coast, the temperature stays nice and stable (and temperate) all year round.

However, as portrayed in the film, LA is also polluted, littered, smoggy, has awful traffic, has a higher fraction of shallow and irritating people than most places...

Like many things, living in LA is a trade-off. For many people, the trade-off makes sense.

Ok the LA thing I get, although I'm guessing not all of LA is like that, but your comment about having kids.. what the hell? I don't even know if you're being serious or not. Do you realise you just compared human beings to dogs?

Ironically, this isn't even ironic at all.

The movie takes place in the San Fernando Valley. Not the city of Los Angeles.

I make the distinction because I am originally from SFV - and the Valley is a diverse and varying place. Like any other area it has nicer cities and uglier cities.

I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

The movie wasn't depressing. It gave me a headache at the end, so much going on and none of it good. Ed Norton gave a wonderful performance as always.

It's important to realize that the movie was shot intentionally to make L.A. look this way. It was weird how many scenes there were in the film where I said, "Hey, that's right down the street from where I used to live," but it doesn't look like anywhere near that bad in real life.

The lighting, the time of day, the camera angle selection, the hazey weird vibe, etc.....it's all done to make the audience say the same thing that you are saying now. It's not meant to look like a comfortable place, because it's supposed to suite how the characters are feeling and what they are going through (lonely, confused, in a haze, etc). However there are plenty of comfortable places in the L.A area. And plus, the valley is *beep* anyway, but if you drive an hour in the other direction (north or south), it's much much nicer (Orange County and Santa Barbara).
I live in Burbank, which is considered the valley, and it's way nicer than you'd think from this film too. Amazing how 10 minutes away makes all the difference here, whereas the mid west isn't like that as much.