The Girlfriend Experience review
Beware of minor spoilers for The Girlfriend Experience.
When it comes to pornographic actresses, there's isn't many that I know of that have made a successful transfer into mainstream acting except for maybe Traci Lords who has an extensive list of credits in mainstream acting. If your interested enough, you can actually see a list (probably incomplete) of adult entertainers who appeared in mainstream parts over at wikipedia.org. It's always interesting to see if these women have talents that can be used in mainstream films other than just between the sheets, not that there is anything wrong with that. In this case it's Sasha Grey who's put in the spot light with her new film The Girlfriend Experience.
I've been looking forward to seeing this film for sometime because I've enjoyed what director Steven Soderbergh has done in the past. Soderbergh is the director of the Ocean films (11,12 and 13) as well as Che: Part One and Two. I love the Ocean movies - they're fantastic with a great ensemble cast and Che: Part One is an excellent epic picture. I haven't yet seen Che: Part Two. It is always very interesting to see a director go into very different places when making films. There are a lot of directors who stick with one genre and don't usually attempt to do anything different. That's not a bad thing to say because some of those directors belong right where they are since their genre is where their talents shine. When you look at the work Soderbergh has done you'll see that he's done a variety of films - the Ocean movies are vastly different from Che and both of those films are vastly different from what he does here in The Girlfriend Experience. He experiments and I respect that out of directors.
Over the past few years, as I've gotten older, I've been looking more forward to artsy independent films because I've been craving more movies that have rich stories instead of the usual brainless action, science fiction or thriller film. I still love those movies but on occasion I like to watch something intelligent. Usually the rich films don't come out until the end of the year, for award season, so since this film is considered to be in the art/independent genre coming out now, I was excited to see it.
"The Girlfriend Experience stars adult film actress Sasha Grey as Chelsea, a high price escort who offers her wealthy client the eponymous service. In other words, on their long, often overnight "dates," she assumes the role of a temporary romantic partner, attending and discussing highbrow cultural events, eating at hip and expensive restaurants, while expressing an interest in the client's life and work. She keeps a detailed journal about her clients. Chelsea’s live-in boyfriend, a personal trainer (Chris Santos, who previously worked as a personal trainer in the real world) struggles with trying to earn a fair share of the upscale business he brings into his gym. Chris is conflicted when a wealthy client invites him on a weekend trip to Vegas. The couple faces further problems when Chelsea finds herself sincerely attracted to one of her clients, a married screenwriter. Over the course of the film, Chelsea is interviewed by a journalist (played by real-life journo Mark Jacobson, whose reporting on Frank Lucas inspired the film American Gangster), and visits "The Erotic Connoisseur," a sleazy blogger who reviews escort services (portrayed by film critic Glenn Kenny). Director Steven Soderbergh shot The Girlfriend Experience (under the pseudonym Peter Andrews) using the same high definition camera he used on Che. The script is by the writing team David Levien and Brian Koppelman (Rounders), who previously worked with Soderbergh on Ocean’s Thirteen." [MSN]
With a movie like The Girlfriend Experience, there isn't much that can be said because it's so contained within itself. It is a very small film with few characters and a very simple story which is a different from the type of films I usually tune into. I've never been a big fan of films that worked with very few characters but in the case of The Girlfriend Experience and in short, I like this movie. Surely it is not something I can recommend to everybody but for those who enjoy independent films that talk about subjects that we usually don't see in film, as in this case - escorts, this is definitely something a fan of film would enjoy seeing.
By far, Sasha Grey is the best thing about this film and it's not only because she's sexy, it's mainly because she's really an enjoyable character to watch. Her performance is very interesting, a performance I suspect she took from experience. She carries a coldness about her, yet very intelligent in knowing what she wants with her life but also gets confused with feelings while "working" which is a subject touched on in the film. Grey has a couple of fantastic moments in which she shines. They're moments in which she shows emotion making you feel for her character and it works so well although her career is questionable. Will it spark a mainstream career for Grey? I don't know but she does show in this picture that she has the chops to act in a film that you don't have to buy in an adult store.
The story told in this film is easily intriguing enough to watch. It doesn't only concentrate on Grey's story as an escort - it also follow her personal life while living with her trainer boyfriend Chris who also has his own part to tell in this film. At first, his story doesn't seem like a story that needs to be told but while watching it, seeing his life which is a normal everyday life, we start to see how he deals with his girlfriend being an escort.
The Girlfriend Experience is definitely for a selected crowd like film festival goers and fans of films and filmmaking like myself. It's a contained film with an impressive performance from Sasha Grey - a performance that I'd like to see again in the future; I'd like to see Grey continue making movies, mainstream movie that is. Steven Soderbergh has another good film under his belt - I'm curious to know if The Girlfriend Experience is going to get any nods during award season. Wouldn't be interesting to see Sasha Grey get an Oscar nomination. Haha, that would be something else but somehow I don't see the Academy nominating a porno star. The film itself, however, has a chance and on a scale from 1 to 10, The Girlfriend Experience scores an 8 out of 10.
-Phil
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In the Mechanic, badass Bronson paid for the girlfriend experience. Good chance i’ll rent this.
dude, your review is ‘dead on balls accurate’ (as quoted from My Cousin Vinny).
I first found out about this film from the interview Sasha did on the Tyra Banks TV show she linked on Sasha’s homepage.
Yes she does come across as two things: cold & intelligent
If your reviews are all this accurate, matching my tastes, I will come back for more. I too have given up on ’stupid hollywood’ movies and in my old age started watching artsy films and foreign films (japanese, chinese, korean).
Kick rottentomatoes and fandango in the ass!
@huha
Thanks, I appreciate your comments! I hope you’ll come back!
“As a filmmaker, I simply wanted to reveal what is hidden - the john”. Movies often portray sex-workers, but their customers remain well hidden-faceless and nameless. Pietrobruno’s GFE: GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE calls attention to this bias, at the same time as it shifts the cinematic gaze onto the client. Pietrobruno’s GFE: GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE is out on DVD.
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