Review
"We're all actors aren't we"
I really really really did not expect porn star James Deen to be anything more than a wooden embarrassment in his grownup movie debut but I was happy to find that both he and fellow 'adult entertainer' Danny Wylde were just fine easily as good as the rest of the 'professional' cast and notably more comfortable in front of the camera than Lindsay Lohan who though the biggest name in it is probably the weakest link in the film. Looking as worn out and overthehill as she does it doesn't help that all the characters continually keep saying how she's the hottest girl they've ever seen.
This is a real movie and one which fits in perfectly with the cinematic worlds both Ellis and Schrader have created before such as The Informers Rules Of Attraction Hardcore and Auto Focus. And it's an OK movie too not great but certainly as good as the majority of other smallscale independent films out there. It has a genuine presence and power and things to say about the iphone age the shallowness of modern relationships and the lies we all tell one another. I loved all the shots of the closeddown boardedup movie houses and some of the brooding camerawork and pulsing electronic score put me in mind of 'Drive' as much as anything else.
As with much of Ellis' work there is a slightly gay worldview and a set of observations which don't ring quite so accurate when presented as a depiction of the motives and behaviour of wider society. But that works well here adding to the creepy offkey and uncertain atmosphere and again fits in with the world of his previous books and films.
To sum up it's no Citizen Kane or Sunset Boulevard but it's far from a disaster and well worth a look for those that can come to it with open eyes.