With The Canyons, it was always going to be near-impossible to separate picture from production: born of publicity and crowd-funding, scandal and scrutiny.

Saddled with a “story” boiled down to glassy-eyed sociopaths with good hair ruminating on cinema and power over coffee, tequila and coitus – very Easton Ellis – The Canyons is all about its characters, and by extension, its casting.

So: James Deen is a budget Bateman; American RePsycho with a decent shit-eating grin and little else, while Lohan croaks and cries her way through her lines. The rest are the rest. Until Gus Van Sant pops by.

A movie decrying movies, funded and released online, shot and acted like reality TV – maybe its existence says more than its dialogue, but that doesn’t make it any more engaging.

Rating: 1/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Lindsay Lohan, James Deen

DIRECTOR: Paul Schrader

WRITERS: Bret Easton Ellis

SYNOPSIS: The consequences of a love triangle between a film producer, a former model and a wannabe actor threaten relationships and lives in Los Angeles.