The Girlfriend Experience (2009)

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writers (WGA):

David Levien (written by) &
Brian Koppelman (written by)

Release Date:

8 July 2009 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

See it with someone you ****

Plot:

A drama set in the days leading up to the 2008 Presidential election, and centered on a high-end Manhattan call girl meeting the challenges of her boyfriend, her clients, and her work.

Plot Keywords:

Client | Presidential Election | Call Girl | Economy | Personal Trainer

Cast

Sasha Grey	...	Chelsea / Christine Brown
Chris Santos	...	Chris
Philip Eytan	...	Phillip
T. Colby Trane	...	Waiter
Peter Zizzo	...	Zizzo
Ron Stein	...	Vegas Buddy #1
Marshall Gilman	...	Vegas Buddy #2
Michael Roberts	...	Vegas Buddy #3
Vincent Dellacera	...	Chelsea's Driver
Jim Kempner	...	Art Gallery Owner
David Levien	...	David
Mark Jacobson	...	Interviewer
Alan Milstein	...	Pete
Sukhdev Singh	...	Super
Ted Jessup	...	Chatty 'John'

Also Known As:

GfE (USA) (festival title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, nudity and language. (also VOD edition)

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

2929 Productions

Trivia:

Steven Soderbergh first heard about Sasha Grey when he read an article in Los Angeles magazine about her.

Quotes:

Chelsea: [voice-over] On October 25th, I met with Dennis. We had lunch at Nobu and then went to a hotel room. During lunch, he talked about the financial crisis. When we got back to the hotel room, he immediately got on the phone and ordered some Macallan 25. I put on a Kiki de Montparnasse corset...

Movie Connections:

References The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976)

Soundtrack:

Hot Tub

Sex is everywhere in The Girlfriend Experience, except there's no sex.

First of all, Sasha Grey, queen star of more than 80 porn films, is ironically the only professional actor in the movie, playing a character who is always acting. Grey was contacted through MySpace, but she really pulled her part off, considering she works in adult films, she plays the part really well, her performance is understated and realistic.

Because the movie is set during the financial crisis of October 2008, this film is also about people obsessed with money, the true nature of the crisis, from Sasha to her clients.

Her clients talk about the economy more than just having sex with her. Worried about losing their money, those highly blamed executives that people anger in public life are human and vulnerable in their private life, asking for counselling with an escort girl.

When she's alone in the midst of a relationship crisis just as bad as the economical situation, we see that the economy really doesn't phase her. She's recession proof, paid in cold hard cash and no matter how bad things are, guys have needs. Soderbergh jumps around in the story but ties it all together neatly.

The film looks great too, the cinematography is really modern, realistic and with intimate camera movements. However I felt the script was a bit fluffy in places, many of it was improvisation.

It will certainly be an eye opener for those who are unaware of the daily business of an escort. Would have liked to have seen more in-depth analysis of the character’s history/background. Who is she? Where did she come from? What was her upbringing like? The movie ignores these details which are usually important for a character study.

8.5 out of 10