We here at Brave New Hollywood champion any filmmaker who bucks the calcified, overpriced, entitled Hollywood system to get their baby to an audience. In the case of The Canyons—which arrives with a mountain of pre-release hype—it’s exciting to watch whether it finds its audience despite the Tinseltown and media gatekeepers who clutch their pearls in horror at the mere mention of its title. We haven’t seen the film yet, so it may be terrible. But as Roger Ebert might say, don’t compare it against anything else—does it succeed on its own terms? Forget about the chitter-chatter surrounding the lead-actress wild child, or the leading man with the famous penis. Put aside your opinions about the gadfly director and the provocative screenwriter. Does The Canyons succeed in drawing you into its cinematic fantasyland? And are you ready to say “yes” in spite of yourself…?
James Deen—the aforementioned star of multiple blue movies—plays Christian, a movie producer and trust fund baby whose actress girlfriend, Tara—Lindsay Lohan, you may have heard of her?—is hiding an affair. Their tumultuous relationship and sexually charged secrets allow director Paul Schrader (“American Gigolo,” “Affliction”) and screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis (“American Psycho,” “Less Than Zero”) an opportunity to explore the darker, seamier side of human nature.
The film arrives just as Lohan finishes up a prolonged stint in rehab, and ahead of a sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, with whom she will film a “docu-series”—a more genteel description for a reality television program that intends to aim slightly higher than the lowest common denominator—set to debut next spring. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. Much has already been made of Lohan’s lack of impulse control but it cannot be denied she has charisma. Will she take this bull by the horns and recognize a golden opportunity when it is presented to her?
And James Deen makes a splashy entrée into mainstream consciousness as one of the adult industry’s most popular swordsman. Does he have what it takes to break through as a celebrity and performer without taking his clothes off? Will the media let him? It will be fascinating to watch.
As for the filmmakers, Schrader and Ellis have delighted in thumbing their nose at convention. Their transgressive tendencies have alienated the broader industry. They had to struggle to shoot their film on a micro-budget, and there is little doubt it would have received this much hype without Lohan and Deen in the lead roles. But it has to gall an industry that spurned Ellis and Schrader to see them succeed anyway. The Canyons certainly won’t earn piles of Transformers– or Avengers-level money, but in this case the bar to be considered a financial success is very low. And in a summer when one gazillion-budgeted would-be popcorn blockbuster after another has gone belly-up, who is going to lose their shirt (and perhaps their job)? Probably not the Canyons filmmakers who invested their own money—a reported $250,000—into the project to get it made.
We haven’t seen the movie yet; it may be terrible. But the backstory is already compelling, and there is a slightly twisted Hollywood ending already in sight.
Distributor IFC Films opens “The Canyons” Friday, August 2, in New York, and Friday, August 9, in Los Angeles. It will also be available on VOD and digitally through iTunes, XBOX and other platforms. Costars include Amanda Brooks, acclaimed director Gus Van Sant and rising star Nolan Gerard Funk (“Awkward,” MTV).
CLICK HERE to watch the latest trailer.
CLICK HERE for the movie’s Facebook page.
CLICK HERE for a YouTube interview with James Deen about Lindsay Lohan with HuffPost Live.
Share your thoughts below if you’ve seen the film; we want to hear from you.