Written by David Levien & Brian Koppelman
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Where & When: Laemmle's Sunset 5, West Hollywood, CA, May 25, 2009 1:10 PM
In "The Girlfriend Experience", Steven Soderbergh's latest drama, Sasha Grey (who actually makes her living as a porn star) plays Christine, a high class prostitute who works under the name, "Chelsea". Chelsea charges top dollar to people for them to spend quality time with her while she earns money by playing the dutiful and understanding "girlfriend" of men who don't have the time or energy to find a real one.
Keeping a journal, Chelsea lists each encounter and details everything down to the designer labels of each piece of clothing she was wearing. This logging of her experiences and all of the luxuries her profession enables her to acquire appears to give a healthy boost to her self-esteem. Still not satisfied with her success, Chelsea decides to bring even more awareness to her "brand". First, she connects with a man who will update her website, then meets with a journalist who wants to interview her for a story before finally meeting a man who is willing to set up a lucrative gig in Dubai and write a positive review of her escort services in exchange for a "sample" of her work.
Chelsea has a very understanding boyfriend, Chris (Chris Santos) who is a personal trainer. He also is selling himself, not physically of course, but trying to get ahead in his field. Wealth, social prestige and luxury goods are very important to both of them which makes them seem to be a perfect match.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Where & When: Laemmle's Sunset 5, West Hollywood, CA, May 25, 2009 1:10 PM
In "The Girlfriend Experience", Steven Soderbergh's latest drama, Sasha Grey (who actually makes her living as a porn star) plays Christine, a high class prostitute who works under the name, "Chelsea". Chelsea charges top dollar to people for them to spend quality time with her while she earns money by playing the dutiful and understanding "girlfriend" of men who don't have the time or energy to find a real one.
Keeping a journal, Chelsea lists each encounter and details everything down to the designer labels of each piece of clothing she was wearing. This logging of her experiences and all of the luxuries her profession enables her to acquire appears to give a healthy boost to her self-esteem. Still not satisfied with her success, Chelsea decides to bring even more awareness to her "brand". First, she connects with a man who will update her website, then meets with a journalist who wants to interview her for a story before finally meeting a man who is willing to set up a lucrative gig in Dubai and write a positive review of her escort services in exchange for a "sample" of her work.
Chelsea has a very understanding boyfriend, Chris (Chris Santos) who is a personal trainer. He also is selling himself, not physically of course, but trying to get ahead in his field. Wealth, social prestige and luxury goods are very important to both of them which makes them seem to be a perfect match.
Money would become a greater concern for this couple since this story is set shortly before the American economy went into the toilet last fall. We see how this life-altering event seriously impacted this couple's livelihoods. And a serious problem arises in their relationship when Chelsea meets a married client, becoming convinced that he could be the one who could really change her life by offering financial security.
I was hoping "The Girlfriend Experience" might take us in a new direction from just being another film about the world's oldest profession, particularly because Soderbergh was involved with this project. But even with the documentary-style filmmaking and the use of non-professional actors, the film doesn't feel fresh or inventive. It's actually quite dull. I just couldn't make a connection with Chelsea and hardly intrigued by what was happening in her life. The part where she really lost me was when she was telling her boyfriend that she was going off with the married client for the weekend. He is obviously upset since they agreed she would never do overnight jobs but insists its something she has to do and that he's just being selfish.
I was hoping "The Girlfriend Experience" might take us in a new direction from just being another film about the world's oldest profession, particularly because Soderbergh was involved with this project. But even with the documentary-style filmmaking and the use of non-professional actors, the film doesn't feel fresh or inventive. It's actually quite dull. I just couldn't make a connection with Chelsea and hardly intrigued by what was happening in her life. The part where she really lost me was when she was telling her boyfriend that she was going off with the married client for the weekend. He is obviously upset since they agreed she would never do overnight jobs but insists its something she has to do and that he's just being selfish.
Grey, who has been making adult films for about four years, plays Chelsea as impassive, manipulative and very self involved, making it unclear how much acting we are actually seeing. I also found the character of Chelsea's boyfriend to be far from unbelievable. I suppose it's certainly possible that a man might be okay that his girlfriend being a sex worker but Chris is really not convincing us that he is content. He appears to be a nice guy (delusional and dim but nice) and just doesn't seem to be the type who would settle for that.
I was disappointed with "the Girlfriend Experience" but I'm aware that Mr. Soderbergh's films can be either a hit ("Out Of Sight" and "The Limey") or miss ("Solaris" and "The Good German"). But I'm just glad that he is around. He is one of the few American directors willing to challenge audiences with unconventional and innovative cinema. I, for one, appreciate that and will always be willing to go along for the ride.
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