The Girlfriend Experience
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
B+
Last fall, just in time for our country’s fun economic apocalypse, Jean-Luc Godard’s 1962 Vivre Sa Vie rolled back into theaters, offering a solution to one’s financial woes: become a prostitute. At that very moment Steven Soderbergh was in New York filming The Girlfriend Experience, in which a young, pert protagonist had done just that. As played by porn star Sasha Grey, our heroine sells on the high end, protecting her from the grim conclusion that befell Vie’s Anna Karina. (“Anna Karina,” incidentally, was the fake name Grey originally desired.) But her livelihood is just as much in jeopardy, as portrayed in Soderbergh’s uncanny, razor-sharp summation of our current cultural mindset.
The Girlfriend Experience finds its filmmaker in kaleidoscopic experimental mode; editorially speaking, he out-Limeys The Limey. As per the title, Grey offers the works: kissing, foreplay, chatter (or at least bounce-boarding), companionship. As such, the line between work and home is impossibly blurred; she has a fitness-trainer boyfriend (Chris Santos), but their rapport is interchangeable from that with her clients.
Soderbergh has bottled up a unique moment among America’s upper class, when even the wealthy secure are in a state of anxious freefall. Grey’s clients whinge about having to give up expensive residences and tell Grey why she should vote for McCain, while rich guys on a private jet to Vegas decry the stimulus package. But topicality aside, it’s clear Soderbergh’s real interest is catching a new breed of careerism. Grey may inhabit the world of the wealthy, have a fantastic apartment, etc. But she has to scrabble for it—she has to be her job.
Grey is no grand thespian, but she’s an incredible presence: Her face projects an inner confidence while also radiating a subtle but unmistakable fragility. She has to maintain calm and professionalism at all times, and only begins to crumble once she runs afoul of a snooty, snarky escort critic (show-stealingly played by film critic Glenn Kenny).
Soderbergh isn’t just saying that all jobs require prostitution. He’s also saying that prostitution is like any job, and requires a certain amount of self-delusion—particularly given that, like so many luxury professions, its very existence is now in question. Take out the pre-election chatter, and The Girlfriend Experience feels very current.
COMMENTS
ADD COMMENT
MORE
Article:
Six Songs More Famous Than the Movies From Which They Originate
Article:
Will Smith Reprises His Role as Agent J in the Unasked-For Three-quel to "Men in Black"
Article:
A Boy Hopes to Reunite His Family in "I Wish"
Article:
"Polisse" Follows the Impassioned Members of a Child Protection Unit in Paris
Article:
"Battleship" is a Cobbled Together Junkyard of Stolen Scenes
Article:
"The Dictator" is Sacha Baron Cohen’s Least Fleshed-Out Role
Article:
An Eternal Bachelor Goes on Dates With Elderly Ladies in "Bernie"
Article:
A Girl Goes on a Series of Dates to Scientifically Prove Her Fiance's Sincerity in "Losing Control"
1. StaciJay said... on May 19, 2009 at 08:57PM
“Saw this via Amazon. While it comes across a bit flat, 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.”