Review of The Canyons (2013) by Cliff H — 27 Sep 2013

This is a brilliant film which has fallen victim to a subjective snowball of unreasonable distaste. Brilliantly written character study, perfect performances, and beautiful photography. Lohan is exceptional, and I hope James Deen lands more roles in non-pornographic films.

He is a young actor with some serious chops, if his portrayal of Christian is any indication. It is unfortunate that the naysaying around this movie hit such a fever pitch before masses got a chance to see it objectively, because their viewings of it have been colored by the negative press and a desire to see this movie in a negative light; alternatively, there are a lot of people who went into this not knowing what to expect from it I think.

This *feels* lake an Easton Ellis novel on screen--I see a lot of the character types he explores in books like Less Than Zero and Imperial Bedrooms blended together here, within the context of an erotic thriller, at last delivering a film that I think truly contains within itself the spirit of Ellis' writing--something most adaptations of his work to film thus far have failed to do.

In closing, Lindsay Lohan's Tara is exceptionally performed and nuanced, and I can't imagine another actress having played her. The dialogue between characters is very real and intimate, natural and organic, to such a degree that it was positively sublime.

A+.