Soderbergh is something of a curiosity. He is perhaps the only director currently working in Hollywood who makes small films interspersed with big-budget movies. I particularly admire his skill with actresses, as he has elicited career-best work from several including Andie MacDowell (sex, lies and videotape), Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight), Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich), and Natascha McElhone (Solaris). To that list can be added Sasha Grey, heretofore a porn star, now a cross-over performer based on her work in The Girlfriend Experience.
Honestly, I'd never heard of Sasha Grey before this film, but she's remarkable and very talented portraying Chelsea/Christine, a professional in a committed relationship with personal trainer Chris (Chris Santos) whom the audience follows over a period of a few days in the fall of 2008.
Chelsea isn't a hooker, she's an escort who will provide the whole "girlfriend experience" for the right price. Meaning, she'll dress appropriately, go wherever, do whatever, listen to your troubles and offer sympathy and sex. But she's not entirely happy despite having a great apartment and a guy who seemingly loves her. She wants more, so she seeks out ways to expand business and runs into the competition. One of her regular clients is brusque after an encounter and a few days later she spies him out with a new girl. She wants to enhance her reputation but when she seeks assistance from a so-called connoisseur she runs afoul of him. Chelsea and her partner experience some bumps in their relationship as his frustrations with his own stalled career and the opportunity to hobnob with wealthy clients in Las Vegas presents itself. The capper is that Chelsea meets a client with whom she connects and who may be able to offer her something different and more fulfilling than what she has.
When Soderbergh does these low-key, no-frills productions, the results can be uneven. I happened to really like Bubble but wasn't crazy about Full Frontal. For me, The Girlfriend Experience falls somewhere in the middle. I was bored at times (particularly when the movie focused on Chris) but other times I really got caught up in the story -- which is told in a nonlinear fashion. (Soderbergh shot the movie on digital video with an outline and some dialogue and then sort of scrambled the timeline in the editing room.) Grey manages to captivate and enchant when she's the focus of the film. The rest of the cast ranges from appropriately creepy (critic Glenn Kenny as the sex guru) to adequate (Santos as the boyfriend). This is clearly Grey's show and she is more than up to the challenge. In fact, it's almost a shame she already has such an established porn career; she easily could be the leading lady in any number of Hollywood films. If she makes the transition, she can thank Soderbergh.
Overall my "Girlfriend Experience" was a pleasant one, so I'd say seek this one out and give it a whirl.
Rating: B
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