Lindsay Lohan‘s dark, noir thriller, is out this weekend. And despite some Lohan-heavy, drama-related headlines during the film’s production, the actress, fresh off a court-ordered three-month stint in rehab, is garnering generally positive reviews.
In the film, Lohan plays Tara, a Hollywood social climber trapped between a dysfunctional relationship with trust-fund kid and wannabe Hollywood producer, Christian (James Deen), and a former flame, struggling actor Ryan (Nolan Funk). It was directed by “Taxi Driver” scribe Paul Schrader and penned by .
The movie takes a look at the seedy side of Hollywood and the lengths people will go to try and make it in the business. The movie also puts a spotlight on the social boundaries put on technologically driven modern romances, leading to some especially eyebrow-raising sex scenes between Lohan and Deen. Given how much was written about the film even before critics got a peek at any frames, what are they saying now about Lohan’s performance?
Far From Perfect
“The undimensional and unambitious character conceptions offer very little for the actors to work with; they have no humor, no worthwhile insights, no detectable, relatable humanity. Nor are there significant dramatic opportunities to test either Lohan, who comes off OK but unexceptionally, certainly compared to some of her earlier roles, or the less familiar names.” — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
Signs Of Life
“Of course, many people of my generation will flock to this movie to watch Lindsay Lohan. She’s the best thing about this movie, along with a monologue from James Deen peppered with the word ‘bam’ and a gut-busting Pringles reference that I pray will become a line recited for years to come. With a puffy face capable of embarrassment, discomfort, and tears, Lohan’s the most exciting image on the screen. She’s the living dead in a movie full of corpses.” — Ross Scarano, Complex
A Screen Legend In The Making?
“The major exception is Lohan, who gives one of those performances, like Marlon Brando’s in ‘Last Tango in Paris,’ that comes across as some uncanny conflagration of drama and autobiography. Lohan may not go as deep or as far as Brando, but with her puffy skin, gaudy hoop earrings and thick eye makeup, there’s a little-girl-lost quality to the onetime Disney teen princess that’s very affecting. Whenever she’s onscreen, she projects a sense of just barely holding on to that precarious slide area in the shadow of the Hollywood sign.” — Scott Foundas, Variety
The Final Word
“There is much more noirish kink and duplicity on hand. But Schrader tries to find the human side of it all, and he scores with Lohan, who taps a vulnerability beneath her dissolution to remind you why she’s still a movie star.” — Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
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