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Directed By
Steven Soderbergh
Written By:
Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Cast:
Chris Santos, Timothy J. Cox, Jeff Grossman, Kimberly Magness, George Aloi, Danny Boushebel, Edward M. Kelahan, Tanda Mercer, Clifford Rivera, Ken Myers, Quarles Antoine, Sasha Grey, Peter Zizzo, Timothy Davis, Bridget Storm, Brooke Aldrich, Karen Collazzo, Daniel Fainman, Ian Christopher Noel, Alyson Rogers, Eric Whitehead, Ted Jessup, Adelmo Guidarelli
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The Girlfriend Experience (2009)
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Movie Review by Ben
October 11th, 2009
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"The Girlfriend Experience" represents one of Steven Soderbergh's experimental films and his occasional escape from mainstream cinema. Like "Bubble," he shot it with a very low budget and with a relatively inexpensive camera, and he cast actors in it with no previous experience. There is however one exception to this and that is Sasha Grey. Known to people (though they probably wouldn't openly admit it) as one of the biggest stars in pornography films today. She gives the term "Grey's Anatomy" a whole new meaning. Her being cast in the lead role should show much of a breakthrough the world of pornography has made into the mainstream media. That can no longer be denied.
The movie takes place a month or so before the 2008 Presidential election between Obama and McCain. Sasha plays Christine, a high priced escort who goes by the alias of Chelsea, who services the rich commodities brokers of New York. Sex does play a part in her job, but that's not the only thing she provides. Chelsea gives herself over to you as your girlfriend for the evening, one who will listen to your problems over a dinner at a nice restaurant. She is there for you when the reality of life hits you too hard, or if your wife and kids are giving you too much to deal with. Basically, she is selling companionship as a commodity, and she has become independently wealthy because of it. Throughout the movie, she seems to have a disconnect between what she does, and the life she has outside of that. But as the story goes on, you may see that façade come apart some.
Sasha's life outside of being an escort includes a boyfriend who works as personal trainer at gyms. He is played by Chris Santos, and his relationship is a stable one. While their chosen professions differ from one another, they are essentially the same kind of person; they sell their services for a price, and try to remain independent while running their individual businesses their way. Chris and Sasha are (to put it bluntly) pimping themselves for a price, only Sasha is getting a better price for her services. Unlike others, Chris is comfortable with Sasha does for a living, assuming it remains in certain parameters that the both of them have set for one another.
"The Girlfriend Experience" is not really about sex, and there is no simulated or non-simulated sex to be found anywhere in this movie. Those looking for the typical Sasha Grey experience need to be made aware of that before they see this film. She does have one nice full frontal scene near the beginning of the film, but it is hardly titillating in the way you would expect. What it is really about is the practice of buying and selling certain commodities, and of how even the feel of loving companionship has become an ever growing business. The question presented to us is, are we so drained of feeling and morality that we have to resort to prostitution to feel something, anything? Furthermore, what if the line between what you do for a living and what you do outside of that becomes blurred? Can you remain objective in that situation?
Soderbergh gives the movie a non-linear approach like "21 Grams" did a few years ago. The movie shifts back and forth in time, and we the characters in different emotional states. This will undoubtedly annoy many who are so used to mainstream cinema where everything is shown in chronological order. I on the other hand welcome this approach because it is always refreshing to see any filmmaker challenge the medium, especially at this time of year where it's all about tried and true formulas. This method makes the movie seem more unpredictable in regards to what will happen next. It also gives the audience a somewhat alienating feeling that forces us to view these characters from a clinical distance. "The Girlfriend Experience" doesn't want us to feel like we are in the same room with these characters. Instead, it wants to observe them and to think about what they are going through. The film also wants us to question if there really can be an unbreakable line between work and play. If we lose sight of that, is it even possible to bring ourselves back to where we were before?
As an actress, Sasha Grey is no Meryl Streep, but she does do good work here. Soderbergh made it clear that he chose her in part because of her name value in porn films, and that is understandable. It certainly will bring a somewhat bigger audience to this film than it would have gotten if another actress played her part. Soderbergh said that he also chose Sasha because she is a lot like the character in that she runs her own business, and that she is her own agent; she runs herself and has no one managing her. Indeed, looking at her career in the state it's currently in, it's hard to think of another actress (let alone a more accomplished one) who could have been more believable in this role. In many ways, Sasha is Chelsea, and she may even be the first to admit that.
Shooting this movie with a digital camera, Soderbergh makes it clear that this is a movie takes place in the real world and not some fictional one. The Elliott Spitzer scandal that came about because of his dealings with escorts like Chelsea could make this film seem like a documentary. In casting people with no previous acting experience, Soderbergh succeeds in giveing us characters that we recognize from our daily lives. Still, he doesn't let you get too close to them. Just as you're about to get closer, Steven ends up moving the story in another direction to where you are just as starved for feeling as the characters are.
The film's final image, of two characters locked in an embrace, seems to define it completely. We want that closeness to another person just as much as we are frightened of it. It makes us wonder if it is possible to achieve it without having to pay a price for it. The movie does not lay judgment of escort services or other forms of prostitution, but simply acknowledges how one of the oldest professions in the world still plays a significant part in our world today whether we admit it or not. It has since evolved to another level where it is being offered for more than just a quickie in a hotel.
"The Girlfriend Experience" is one of Soderbergh's more interesting films of the past few years. It runs at a scant 77 minutes, but it feels longer than that since there is much to take in. Many will say that he owes us a movie this short after splitting his previous movie "Che" into two films (I still need to see that dammit). It's not quite a great movie, but it is very good and is willing to take chances that other movies in 2009 have not. It will be interesting to see where Sasha Grey's career will go from here. Porn actors and actresses rarely if ever make a break into mainstream films because of the stigma attached to their profession. But even those who consider themselves "morally superior" to pornography or porno actors are probably bigger fans of it than they will ever admit. It all plays a big part in our lives, probably on more of an unconscious level more than anything else.
Of course, it will become a very lonely world if the only way we can get intimacy is to pay a high price for it.
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 | Alex
Oct 11, 2009 7:09 PM
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| [comment deleted by Ben] |
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Oct 13, 2009 1:51 AM