Very early on in the Canyons you sort of resign to the fact that you will be sitting through a B movie. The acting is for the most part amateur hour, the cinematography looked cheap and the editing choppy. That's not to say The Canyons isn't an entertaining film - I found it to be pretty well written though I would have preferred to see some better actors in many of the roles, which would have given Ellis's dialogue more weight and energy.
I kinda appreciate the approach of choosing a porn actor as your leading man but James Deen as Christian mumbles his way throughout the film when his dialogue is calling for him to be more assertive. It's a casting mistake and as a result much of the cast crumbles around him. The one bright spot was Lindsay Lohan, I actually thought she was the best cast in her role and the best actor in the bunch. The Canyons works best as a metaphor, for what film is and what film has become, the degradation of the medium, the cheap video look, the broken cinemas.
I kinda appreciate the approach of choosing a porn actor as your leading man but James Deen as Christian mumbles his way throughout the film when his dialogue is calling for him to be more assertive. It's a casting mistake and as a result much of the cast crumbles around him. The one bright spot was Lindsay Lohan, I actually thought she was the best cast in her role and the best actor in the bunch. The Canyons works best as a metaphor, for what film is and what film has become, the degradation of the medium, the cheap video look, the broken cinemas.