LA Times: Laguna Beach: Drugs, treachery and Oliver Stone

A postcard-perfect coastline, lots of drugs, and the Mexican cartel muscling its way into town.

It may not be story line dreamed up by the Chamber of Commerce, but Laguna Beach -- at least in the hands of movie director Oliver Stone -- serves as the gorgeous backdrop to a story of drug dealing, treachery and kidnap.

“Savages,” based on the novel of the same name by Don Winslow, is set in Laguna Beach and was largely filmed there last year, including a two-day shoot at Main Beach.

The action film stars John Travolta, Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch and Salma Hayek. It's scheduled to reach theaters in July.

The story centers around two Laguna Beach residents, both easy-going entrepreneurs who have a lucrative marijuana business but quickly run into trouble when a Mexican drug cartel moves into town and tries to get its hands on the drug trade, according to the synopsis by Universal Pictures.

It’s not the first time Laguna Beach has caught the eye of the camera.

"Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County" was a MTV staple in the early 2000s, a reality-style show on teen life in the beach city.