It took me a while to appreciate The Canyons.

In fact, it took me so long to appreciate this film that I’m writing a second review it. I initially reviewed The Canyons way back in 2013, the same year that it was released.  I praised Lindsay Lohan’s performance as Tara, an actress who is living with a sociopathic producer named Christian (adult film actor James Deen, who was a bit of a celebrity when this film came out but whose star has dimmed considerably since).  I complained that the film was too slow and that director Paul Schrader seemed to be trying too hard to find some sort of existential meaning within Bret Easton Ellis’s pulpy script.  Though I didn’t really mention it in my initial review, I also felt that rest of the cast was rather dull.  Lohan was great, playing a character to whom she could probably relate.  Deen was stiff but oozed enough charm to be believable as the manipulative Christian.  The rest of the largely unknown cast came across as being dull and somewhat lost.

Though I was nowhere near as critical of The Canyons as some critics, I still was not initially impressed.  I thought of it as being a showcase for Lohan’s attempted comeback and little else.  But I have to admit that The Canyons has stuck with me.  It’s a film that I’ve rewatched more than a few times.  While all of the flaws are still there, I have come to better appreciate the film’s languid decadence.  I’ve come to see that there was a bit more wit to both Ellis’s script and Schrader’s direction than I initially realized.  James Deen’s performance as Christian has grown on me.  I like that he’s a neurotic sociopath.  He’s evil but he’s needy and, though he’ll never admit it, he knows that he’ll be nothing if Tara ever leaves him.  He’s desperate to be loved but he has no idea how to give that love back.

When I first saw the movie, I thought Nolan Funk, who played Tara’s ex-lover, was a bit dull in the role.  Upon subsequent rewatches, I’ve come to see that his dullness is actually very important to the film.  Ryan is written to be boring.  That’s why Tara is drawn to him.  His dullness provides some relief from Christian’s mood swings.  But, because Ryan is so boring, he can also never truly take Christian’s place.  In the end, Ryan still sells out his integrity, first to get a part and then to obsessively check in on Tara.  Ryan and Christian are ultimately revealed to be two sides of the same coin.  Ryan may be “the good guy,” but — in a typical Ellis and Schrader twist — there’s nothing likable or even that good about him.  One gets the feeling that, if had Christian’s money, he would be just as bad.

You really do find yourself feeling sorry for Tara, who is basically trapped between two men who both want to control her.  Lohan’s performance continues to be the strongest things about The Canyons.  There’s a lot of courage to Lohan’s performance, courage that goes beyond taking part in the film’s sex scenes.  Lohan reveals the vulnerability that’s at the heart of Tara.  She’s someone who knows that she needs to escape but she also knows that she’s a creation of Hollywood.  Hollywood is her home and her world and it’s hard to imagine her surviving anywhere else.  Tara is interesting not because she’s trapped but because, in many ways, she would prefer to be trapped to being free.

The film’s flaws are still there, don’t get me wrong.  The Canyons still has a lot of moments that don’t quite work.  The opening scene, where Christian, Ryan, Tara, and Gina (Amanda Brooks, whose performance also improves on repeat viewing) have an awkward dinner, is almost laughably bad.  (In that opening scene, James Deen delivers his dialogue like Dirk Diggler in Angels Live In my Town.)  That said, this is a trashy and colorful movie that does stick with you.  You might not want it to stick with you but it does!  It’s portrayal of sexual decadence and neurotic Hollywood players is far more entertaining than it has any right to be.  It may not be a great film but it is one that’s a bit more interesting than many originally thought.

Previous Guilty Pleasures

1. Half-Baked
2. Save The Last Dance
3. Every Rose Has Its Thorns
4. The Jeremy Kyle Show
5. Invasion USA
6. The Golden Child
7. Final Destination 2
8. Paparazzi
9. The Principal
10. The Substitute
11. Terror In The Family
12. Pandorum
13. Lambada
14. Fear
15. Cocktail
16. Keep Off The Grass
17. Girls, Girls, Girls
18. Class
19. Tart
20. King Kong vs. Godzilla
21. Hawk the Slayer
22. Battle Beyond the Stars
23. Meridian
24. Walk of Shame
25. From Justin To Kelly
26. Project Greenlight
27. Sex Decoy: Love Stings
28. Swimfan
29. On the Line
30. Wolfen
31. Hail Caesar!
32. It’s So Cold In The D
33. In the Mix
34. Healed By Grace
35. Valley of the Dolls
36. The Legend of Billie Jean
37. Death Wish
38. Shipping Wars
39. Ghost Whisperer
40. Parking Wars
41. The Dead Are After Me
42. Harper’s Island
43. The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
44. Paranormal State
45. Utopia
46. Bar Rescue
47. The Powers of Matthew Star
48. Spiker
49. Heavenly Bodies
50. Maid in Manhattan
51. Rage and Honor
52. Saved By The Bell 3. 21 “No Hope With Dope”
53. Happy Gilmore
54. Solarbabies
55. The Dawn of Correction
56. Once You Understand
57. The Voyeurs 
58. Robot Jox
59. Teen Wolf
60. The Running Man
61. Double Dragon
62. Backtrack
63. Julie and Jack
64. Karate Warrior
65. Invaders From Mars
66. Cloverfield
67. Aerobicide 
68. Blood Harvest
69. Shocking Dark
70. Face The Truth
71. Submerged