Lady Of The Canyon (Movie Review: The Canyons)

Whatever you say about "The Canyons," the one adjective you can never describe it is boring. The film is slick, it's a little slimy, but it grabs your attention, though at the end, you kind of ask yourself, "why." Truly, this movie, written by Bret Easton Ellis and directed by Paul Schrader could cease to exist and the world will keep on spinning. But with it in the world, nothing changes as well. It tell the story of vacuous Angelenos - Christian, played by the porn star James Deen, and Tara, Lindsay Lohan. Tara is living with Christian, but she is having an affair with Ryan (Gerald Nolan Funke) probably (it is never clear) because Christian has "opened up" their marriage. Christian finds out about their affair, and does a bad thing. That's it, and I wish I could say that there are layers in the story that depict basic humanity but I am struggling. I wanted very much to like this movie, and I am finding I did not dislike it. But, I am also struggling as to why it appealed to me. Lindsay Lohan is a great actress, and still a great presence. And she finds something in her character that gives her a bit of vulnerability. James Deen isn't bad, but at the same time, I don't think he did anything special to the character either, so why choose him over some legitimate actor who could have provided some shading? But I must say, Lindsay and Deen have some chemistry, and when they are on screen, you can't help but keep on watching. But in the middle of it, though, you ask yourself, "what is this"?