#009 - The Girlfriend Experience (2009)

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Writer: David Levien & Brian Koppelman

Runtime: 78 min

I'd like to preface this review by stating that a huge part of my basis for seeing this film was another film I have seen recently, called 9 to 5: Days In Porn (link) at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It was a documentary on the rather seedy side of porn, not the more stereotypical platinum-blonde-and-implant side. And when I saw Soderbergh was making a feature starring one of the major players in that doc, the up-and-coming superstar Sasha Grey, I guess I fell right into the trap that was set for everyone, and I had to see the movie myself.

For a guy who has made such thin, formulaic studio vehicles like the Ocean's movies, Soderbergh definitely has a knack for putting together some of the most starkly objective narratives of his generation. Sex, Lies and Videotape, Full Frontal, Bubble, and now The Girlfriend Experience sort of have this way of shouting, "I'm going to make movies that are as far removed from Hollywood stereotypes, that I might even sacrifice story to do so." Okay, that might be an overstatement, and a denigration to Soderbergh's talents. Bubble was actually a terrific movie, one that I enjoyed far more than The Girlfriend Experience. The primary reason I think was story. Nothing really happens in GFE, which sadly is starting to become a trend in movies I've seen. Sasha plays "Chelsea"/Christine, an upscale call girl who provides the full "girlfriend experience" to her clients, which means spending hours/days together, sleeping together (actual sleeping), kissing on the mouth (take that Julia), talking, the works. She's got a bunch of obscenely wealthy clients, but at her age (what, 21?) she's starting to get concerned about competition from newer, more exotic girls, so she's expanding her options to try and increase revenue. Oh, and she also has a real boyfriend. He's a personal trainer, and intentionally or not, their stories mirror each other. They both are paid hourly. They both are paid very WELL hourly. They both receive advances from their clients (solicited or not). And they're both trying to increase their exposure, increase their income, find more stable footing in a treacherous economic landscape--with one catch: neither of them seems willing to do anything to achieve it. They just expect it. Unfortunately as a viewer this causes a lot of problems, because there is no compass to center yourself with. Initially I felt sympathy for Chris (the boyfriend) because he was allowing "Chelsea" to live her life and he still cared for her deeply. But in a couple of scenes towards the middle, most notably when he propositions the manager at his gym, he comes off as a complete ass, and personally I feel the movie spirals downwards after that.

Sasha's acting is decent. In truth, her character is kind of cold and lifeless, with a belief in astrology as her only quirk (and it is only skimmed over in dialogue). The caveat here is that the other characters in the film SAY that she is cold and lifeless, meaning she either nailed the role, or it was a cover-up for the fact that she's a pretty girl with no charisma.

I don't know. I was sort of reeled in by the intrigue surrounding this movie (and the trailer's kickin' soundtrack) but in the end it was only a little more than sparse narrative and flat character development. What does that mean? It means I don't regret watching it, and certainly if you're a Soderbergh fan you should check it out, but even at a little over an hour I have no intentions on checking it out again.