The Girlfriend Experience Movie Review
A Film Exploring the Desire for Intimacy and Status
Jun 26, 2009
It would be difficult to pigeon hole a Steven Soderbergh film. With everything from Erin Brockovich and Ocean’s 13, to Sex Lies and Videotape, Mr Soderbergh is not afraid of exploring off the beaten path. That is exactly where the viewer finds The Girlfriend Experience.
The movie follows in a non-linear time line, the life of a Manhattan escort named Chelsea, played by Sasha Grey. Up until now Sasha was best known for her over a 150 film credits in the adult film industry. In this film, Chelsea offers what is known as the girlfriend experience, an escort who offers her customer the emotional intimacy and companionship of a real relationship on a strictly per hour basis. Chelsea tries to balance this with holding down a normal relationship with her live in boyfriend, and her own desires to advance materially.
Girlfriend Experience Movie Cast
Starring opposite Sasha Grey’s lead character is Chris Santos, as Chris the understanding boyfriend who is also trying to advance himself in his world as a fitness trainer. Chris Santos’ previous credits include the 1993 Amongst Friends. Rounding out the cast includes Peter Zizzo, Timothy J Cox, Jeff Grossman, and Timothy Davis.
Girlfriend Experience Story Line
The film jumps around in its chronology to a great degree. Overall the film is viewed as little scenarios or snippets of Chelsea’s life that the viewer then has to place in a logical and meaningful order.
Chelsea is a high class escort servicing the financial players in Manhattan. Offering not just sex, but a chance to experience intimacy on a per hire basis, Chelsea listens to her client’s anxieties about the political and financial crisis they find their self in. Often sex seems to be absent from the relationship or an afterthought to her stressed clients.
The professional service she offers as a make-believe girlfriend is balanced off by her normal relationship she has with her boyfriend Chris. Chris understands her work and accepts it as any other job. For Chris, his work as a personal trainer is frustrating him as advancement and job security seems to elude him. When given a chance to go to Las Vegas with some wealthy clients, he has to balance his desires and ambitions to those of his relationship with Chelsea.
Challenges surface for Chelsea when her non-involvement rules with a client breakdown and she finds herself giving up the security of her present relationship to pursue one with a new client. Chelsea’s normally strong walls are breached and she experiences the pain of getting emotionally hurt. In the end though, Chelsea carries on as business as usual servicing the emotional needs of her clients while putting her own aside.
At its core, this is a movie about insecurities. Cool calm and collected exteriors are only masking anxieties and neurosis about career and fear of financial loss. Even Chelsea is insecure about her career and emotional needs.
Movie Review of Girlfriend Experience
This is not an easy movie for the viewer to watch. The movie forces the viewer to pay attention and sort through what is happening on the screen. The camera work goes between very still and quiet to disjointed camcorder type point of view shots. The whole film feels like it is a series of segments loosely joined together to give the viewer small windows into Chelsea’s life. The viewer is never given any background information on Chelsea, or any of the characters for that matter. This is not a movie where the viewer to is going to choose villains and heroes, nor is there is a transformation point when the character reaches an epiphany about life. This movie is simply a snapshot into the insecurity people have about their life, and their need to connect with someone even if it is on a temporary and illusionary basis.
Sasha Grey does a good job in this film. Although there are one or two scenes where it feels like she was looking to the director for her cue, she does well at portraying her role. The men in the film for the most part are convincingly strong when in the outside world, and neurotic and anxious behind closed doors.
This is not a film for everyone. It is not for those seeking entertainment, as it is disjointed and comes across as somewhat flat. It is an interesting study of film making, and is successful in portraying the subject matter in an accurate light. For those that are expecting it to be sexually charged, either because of the appearance of Sasha Grey or the subject mater of prostitution, they will be disappointed. In this film, sex is more of a by product of the individual’s need to have someone care for and listen to them.
Reference
The Girlfriend Experience, Steven Soderbergh, 2009, Magnolia Pictures, 78 minutes
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