Worse things have happened to Oscar winners, but it’s still unfortunate to see both Richard Dreyfuss and Mira Sorvino flailing in the inept muddle of “Crime Story.” Playing a semi-estranged father and daughter thrown into crisis mode over a few hours’ course following a home robbery, the stars are not exactly at their best here.
But then the odds are sharply stacked against them, as writer-director Adam Lipsius’ film has the feel of an enterprise whose script wasn’t quite ready for “action!”: Half the dialogue sounds haplessly improvised, with sporadic voiceover narration coming off as an equally forlorn attempt to belatedly cohere a half-baked whole. Such things do not a taut crime thriller make, and “Story” (previously promoted as both “”The Last Job” and “Reckoning”) also fails as a rather maudlin dysfunctional-family drama, among other things. Saban Films is opening the feature in 10 U.S. cities this Friday,...
But then the odds are sharply stacked against them, as writer-director Adam Lipsius’ film has the feel of an enterprise whose script wasn’t quite ready for “action!”: Half the dialogue sounds haplessly improvised, with sporadic voiceover narration coming off as an equally forlorn attempt to belatedly cohere a half-baked whole. Such things do not a taut crime thriller make, and “Story” (previously promoted as both “”The Last Job” and “Reckoning”) also fails as a rather maudlin dysfunctional-family drama, among other things. Saban Films is opening the feature in 10 U.S. cities this Friday,...
- 8/13/2021
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Paul Schrader has come to Venice in two roles: that of jury president of the Horizons section and as the director of The Canyons, showing here out of competition. This is fitting for a man whose CV flits between an impressive list of writing credits (such as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) and directorial contributions (most notably American Gigolo). Alas for Venice audiences, The Canyons is far, far from impressive.
The Canyons tells the story of a wealthy trust fund brat, Christian (Jimmy Deen), who has decided to get into producing films merely to get his dad off his back about his layabout lifestyle. He’s in a relationship with Tara (Lindsey Lohan) and in the opening restaurant scene, Christian lets his dinner guests – his assistant Gina (Amanda Brooks) and her boyfriend Ryan (Nolan Gerard Funk) – know that he and Tara like to spice things up by inviting girls, couples...
The Canyons tells the story of a wealthy trust fund brat, Christian (Jimmy Deen), who has decided to get into producing films merely to get his dad off his back about his layabout lifestyle. He’s in a relationship with Tara (Lindsey Lohan) and in the opening restaurant scene, Christian lets his dinner guests – his assistant Gina (Amanda Brooks) and her boyfriend Ryan (Nolan Gerard Funk) – know that he and Tara like to spice things up by inviting girls, couples...
- 8/30/2013
- by Jo-Ann Titmarsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Lindsay Lohan. James Deen. Bret Easton Ellis. Paul Schrader. It isn’t so much a case of one of these things not being like the other, as much as none of them sharing a single common strand of DNA, such that a film involving all of them will invariably go one of two ways – an alluring curio, or an unmitigated train-wreck.
This $250,000 experimental film, rolling out on VOD platforms this week, is one which scribe Ellis himself has decried as a “languorous” interpretation of his screenplay, yet the director’s inexplicable effort nevertheless allows the perceived misogyny of the author’s work to run painfully amok throughout.
Self-reflexive to a point, The Canyons examines the lack of actual creativity that drives Hollywood, as the future of a movie project hinges on the whim of sexually possessive movie producer Christian (Deen). He casts young up-and-comer Ryan (Nolan Gerard Funk) in a role,...
Lindsay Lohan. James Deen. Bret Easton Ellis. Paul Schrader. It isn’t so much a case of one of these things not being like the other, as much as none of them sharing a single common strand of DNA, such that a film involving all of them will invariably go one of two ways – an alluring curio, or an unmitigated train-wreck.
This $250,000 experimental film, rolling out on VOD platforms this week, is one which scribe Ellis himself has decried as a “languorous” interpretation of his screenplay, yet the director’s inexplicable effort nevertheless allows the perceived misogyny of the author’s work to run painfully amok throughout.
Self-reflexive to a point, The Canyons examines the lack of actual creativity that drives Hollywood, as the future of a movie project hinges on the whim of sexually possessive movie producer Christian (Deen). He casts young up-and-comer Ryan (Nolan Gerard Funk) in a role,...
- 7/30/2013
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
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