The Girlfriend Experience

Review by Loc

Apparently, this is not only the title of the “experimental” Steven Soderbergh film, it also refers to a specific service offered by high end escorts. Let me explain, as you must be intrigued. Escorts can be more than prostitutes, and high end escorts look to provide a type of companionship that their clients may be seeking. Granted, this companionship comes at a cost per hour, but hey, doesn’t your relationship cost you, too? Ha, I’m kidding, I’m kidding. So, “the girlfriend experience” refers to the type of interaction where the escort provides a more intimate, less physically focused interaction, at least superficially. You get to walk around, have meals, hold hands, have conversations, then you do the deed. Kinda like foreplay, but the kind that no one in the right mind would want to pay for…I’m kidding, come on! Quick hit: you’ll enjoy your own real girlfriend experience much more.

The experimental tag comes from a couple facets of this movie. First, this was one of Soderbergh’s attempts at releasing a film through multiple outlets at once. Thus, you could have ordered in online or seen it at the theaters upon its release. Cool enough, we’re probably moving in that direction as a whole, this may be one of the precursors to fully “on demand” content.

Second, Soderbergh decided to cast an actual adult porn star in the lead role. Not because the role required graphic or intense scenes, but maybe because the actress would bring insight into the character better than someone else. Thus we get Sasha Grey starring as Christine Brown, or known as Chelsea to her clients.

And that was really the hook to this flick. Check out the adult film star in the Soderbergh movie about high end escort services…which turned out bland, boring, and unengaging. This is a bad precedent, as Soderbergh’s next flick stars Gina Carano, the female Mixed Martial Arts star who gained national attention as an attractive ass-kicker in the last couple of years. What’s the flick about? Details are short, but Carano will be playing a spy-on-the-run, kicking ass and being sexy. Let’s hope for better results.

Why? Because The Girlfriend Experience is a flat movie with a lead performance that is wholly vacuous. Comprised of time shifted conversations between Grey and various folks, the film’s biggest mystery is why her actual boyfriend is on a plane to Vegas. And really, that’s not a huge question to answer. Probably because he has friends going there. Maybe he has permission, maybe he doesn’t, but it’s not that big of deal.

Well, it has to be, because that’s the crux of the movie. Splicing a week of conversations together, jumbled to cause tension, we see: Grey interacting with many customers, Grey talking to a fellow escort over brunch, Grey unwinding with her boyfriend, and Grey delivering an interview to a journalist over lunch. So you can see how important it is to have Grey be engaging when the entire film revolves around her conversations. And unfortunately, she’s not. She maintains a stone cold expression, which is void of any actual emotion. She speaks in monotone, whether with clients, associates, strangers, or her boyfriend. Nothing elicits a genuine-looking response, which makes for a flat performance.

Then you have the rest of the cast, all unknowns, chiming in with faux improve-type responses. It’s like watching an acting class where one side is trying too hard, and the other side doesn’t have the ability to emote at all. Plus really nice looking scenery of New York City.

Overall, The Girlfriend Experience is not intriguing or engaging. It goes for compelling angle, trying to take the audience on an exploration of adult relationships and how intimacy isn’t defined by physical interaction. Yet, that exploration has been done before, in better stories, with better performances, and…gasp…dramatic tension. This is like watching MTV fake-drama shows, The Hills, Laguna Beach, etc, except the actors on those shows were fed decent storylines. This one, not so much. Out of 10 clients, The Girlfriend Experience makes it through 3 meetings.

Rated: 3/10