Hookers have feelings too. Yes, we've known that for ages, thanks to movies like Pretty Woman, Nights of Calabria, and even Moulin Rouge!, but rarely do we so such an intimate look into the life of a callgirl. Soderbergh breaks with convention by casting relative unknowns in the staring roles. Christine is portrayed by Sasha Grey, a well known adult film star, and her boyfriend Chris is played by Antonio Sabato Jr. look alike and film newcomer Chris Santos.
The plot follows Christine through her day cinéma vérité-style as she meets with clients, shops for expensive duds, meets with business advisors, and works out. Smart, business minded and confident, Christine seems like she's got it all together. However, when she meets a new writer client who makes a good match according to her personology books, her life gets turned upside down.
Soderbergh seems to be smirking as he toys with the audience in this film. For one, the movie is about a hooker, played by a porn star, yet there is no sex in the movie. For Ms. Grey, who has been filmed doing just about every sexual act one could conceive of and has anal sex "in almost every scene," the shocking thing in The Girlfriend Experience is that the audience barely catches a glimpse of her nude body.
He says the title refers to a type of hooker who provides more than just a quick fuck. Additionally, she provides "the girlfriend experience." That is, she's classy, clean, smart, and charismatic, and gives men a tantalizing taste of what it's like for her to be his girlfriend. In the movie, Christine is being interviewed by a New York Magazine writer who is dying to get inside her head. He wants to know what makes her tick; just like her clients, he's as interested in the girl as he is in getting under her panties. And here, Soderbergh is playing a similar game with his audience: can this porn star actually act? Most people know going into the movie that there is no sex, yet we are still drawn to the novelty of seeing a porn star in a more mainstream movie. We are as interested in her non-sexual skills as we are in her ability to be anally penetrated.
As it turns out, Ms. Grey can in fact act. She brings a cool, confident presence that dances between seductive and bored to almost every scene she's in. Christine comes of as selfish, yet strangely likable; when her armour finally cracks we feel protective of her rather than glad she's gotten her comeuppance. Topical and engaging, The Girlfriend Experience is an enjoyable film staring a likeable and intruiging new talent.
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