Check Out James Deen’s New Movie

James Deen Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen July 11, 2013

Relax, it’s not porn.

James Deen, Jewish porn star, makes his non-X-rated debut in “The Canyons,” the upcoming movie co-starring Lindsday Lohan and based off a script by Bret Easton Ellis.

The film — which was rejected by SXSW for having “an ugliness and a deadness to it,” marks a long-awaited (for her, at least) comeback for Lindsay Lohan, whose onset antics were extensively documented in Stephen Rodrick’s article in the New York Times, “Here Is What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan in Your Movie.”

In his article, Rodrick added that to his surprise, James Deen was possibly the best thing to come out of this film.

“[The house] quickly became the most dependable player in the film after James Deen,” he described. “On the first day of shooting in Malibu, Deen aw-shucked his way around the predominantly male crew. He wasn’t a big man; maybe 5-8 and 150 pounds, but they regarded him with wonder.”

Despite being a nightmare to work with, Lohan’s acting abilities appear to be back on track, though it remains to be seen which side of her will win out in the end.

“I think Lohan has more natural acting talent than Monroe did, but, like Monroe, her weakness is her inability to fake it,” director Paul Schrader wrote in Film Comment.

Judging by the trailer, good or bad, it will definitely not be boring.

See for yourself below:

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO