Reviews Begin to Roll in for 'The Canyons'

HOLLYWOOD—AVN Male Performer of the Year James Deen's Hollywood debut officially lifts off Monday, albeit in New York, with the Lincoln Center premiere of The Canyons, director Paul Schrader and writer Bret Easton Ellis' noir thriller starring Deen opposite Lindsay Lohan, and Tinseltown's two major trade outlets have entered their verdicts on the picture. Both posting their reviews Sunday, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety took decidedly opposing stances on the Kickstarter-funded project, which opens via limited theatrical release and VOD Friday. "The Canyons is a lame, one-dimensional and ultimately dreary look at peripheral Hollywood types not worth anyone's time either onscreen or in real life," THR's Todd McCarthy wrote, saying of Deen, "... his performance is entirely one note in a part that makes little sense from the outset." Variety's Scott Foundas, on the other hand, called the movie Schrader's "most stylish picture in years, probably since Auto Focus." Foundas was even more effusive about Deen, hailing him as "a minor revelation" and going on to crow, "... the actor is used here for maximum smiling-psycho value—another in Ellis' exapansive gallery of spoiled brats who've never stopped wanting to get their way, even if they have to kill for it. And Deen is more than up for the challenge; he holds the camera captive with his chilly, privately amused stare." Meanwhile, in other Canyons-related news, the New York Post published a piece Sunday recounting Lohan's antics during the shoot (as first reported in this January exposé by The New York Times) and in a humorous side-by-side chart, comparing it to Kimberly Kane's recent directorial effort for Vivid Entertainment, Orgy University, which also features Deen (and Tommy Pistol ... not "Johnny," as the Post incorrectly noted). Read The Hollywood Reporter's review of The Canyons here. Read Variety's review here. Read the New York Post's story here.