The Girlfriend Experience

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
For the expression, see girlfriend experience.
The Girlfriend Experience

Promotional film poster
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Produced by Mark Cuban
Gregory Jacobs
Todd Wagner
Written by Brian Koppelman
David Levien
Starring Sasha Grey
Chris Santos
Glenn Kenny
Peter Zizzo
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures
Release date(s) May 22, 2009
New York City
Los Angeles
Running time 77 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Gross revenue $677,439

The Girlfriend Experience is a 2009 experimental drama film shot in New York City. It is directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars adult film actress Sasha Grey.[1][2] A rough cut was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009.[3] The film has also been made available on Amazon Video on Demand as a pre-theatrical rental.[4] Soderbergh mentioned Michelangelo Antonioni's Red Desert and Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers as influences. The film is also notable because it was produced for 1.3 million dollars and was shot with a relatively inexpensive RedOne camera.[5]

Contents

[edit] Plot

November, 2008. Chelsea is an escort working in New York City who specializes as a high class companion who offers the girlfriend experience. Lately, her clients are spending less and are troubled by the financial crisis, which is a frequent topic of discussion when she is with them. She also meets with a journalist who questions her about her work and personal life. She goes from client to client performing her services, and also discusses plans for a boutique and other ventures that will bring in more money. She lives with her boyfriend, Chris, who is a personal trainer also struggling to make ends meet, as most of his clients will only pay for short term plans.

Chris is asked by a client to go to Las Vegas for a weekend away, which he initially turns down because he won't be able to bring Chelsea and thinks she'll dislike him going without her. Chelsea meets with a website owner, "The Erotic Connoisseur", who reviews escorts and is blacklisted after she refuses his advances. Chelsea then meets with a first time client, Tim, a writer from Los Angeles. They start to click after she opens up about her experience with the "The Erotic Connoisseur". Tim is married with children, but after one date wants to spend a weekend away with her, which is against the rules Chelsea and Chris agreed upon when they started dating. After an argument, in which they break up, Chelsea and Chris go their separate ways for the weekend to meet their respective clients. Chris and his client, along with several of his friends, fly to Vegas and party in a suite. Chelsea goes to meet Tim, who decides not to come out. She returns to New York alone.

[edit] Cast

  • Sasha Grey as Christine, alias Chelsea
  • Chris Santos as Chris
  • Timothy Davis as Tim
  • Peter Zizzo as Zizzo
  • Glenn Kenny as "The Erotic Connoisseur"
  • Vincent Dellacera as Chelsea's Driver
  • Kimberly Magness as Happy Hour
  • Mark Jacobson as Interviewer

[edit] Critical reception

The film received a 60% on the critical summation site Rotten Tomatoes with a consensus of "Steven Soderbergh's latest lo-fi production is strikingly crafted but emotionally vague."

Roger Ebert rated the film four out of four stars, saying "This film is true about human nature. It clearly sees needs and desires. It is not universal, but within its particular focus, it is unrelenting."[6]

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kyle Smith, of the long-running New York Post awarded the movie 1 star out of 4, saying "Time for another of Steven Soderbergh's 'experimental,' i.e., half-assed, films." [7] David Edelstein of New York Magazine complained that, "Most of the dialogue is listless, and no matter how much Soderbergh snips and stitches, the movie is a corpse with twitching limbs." Luke Davies, critic for The Monthly, saw the film as "disposable and pretentious" that "is shot sombrely and austerely, in a style that might be described as 'vacuous chic'" and concluded that "as a film in which a porn star's presence is a fundamental marketing hook, it is masturbation."[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Original news release: David Sullivan, „Sasha Grey Stars in Steven Soderbergh Feature“, in: Adult Video News, AVN Media Network (online), 10-14-2008
  2. ^ David Sullivan, „Video: Soderbergh Directs Sasha Grey“, in: Adult Video News, AVN Media Network (online), 10-15-2008
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ The Girlfriend Experience on Amazon Video On Demand
  5. ^ My Girlfriend Experience: A Set Diary" from theauteurs.com
  6. ^ "The Girlfriend Experience". http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/. Roger Ebert. May 20 2009. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090520/REVIEWS/905209991/1023. Retrieved 2009-10-26. 
  7. ^ "PHONY DOCUMENTARY DOESN'T DO THE TRICK". New York Post. NYP Holdings Inc.. May 22 2009. http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/phony_documentary_doesn_do_the_trick_4J2025vEm9R2gdYyspOPtK. Retrieved 2009-10-26. 
  8. ^ "Amoral Tale: Luke Davies on Steven Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience"". The Monthly. September 2009. http://www.themonthly.com.au/film-luke-davies-amoral-tale-steven-soderbergh039s-039the-girlfriend-experience039-1933?page=0%2C1. Retrieved 2009-10-26. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Steven Soderbergh
1980s
1990s
Kafka (1991) • King of the Hill (1993) • The Underneath (1995) • Gray's Anatomy (1996) • Schizopolis (1996) • Out of Sight (1998) • The Limey (1999)
2000s
Erin Brockovich (2000) • Traffic (2000) • Ocean's Eleven (2001) • Full Frontal (2002) • Solaris (2002) • Ocean's Twelve (2004) • Bubble (2005) • The Good German (2006) • Ocean's Thirteen (2007) • Che (2008) • The Girlfriend Experience (2009) • The Informant! (2009)
Stub icon This 2000s drama film-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girlfriend_Experience"