The movie is all about thought and character, and could be off-putting in that respect. These type of experimental movies can be some of the most realistic movies you'll ever watch. Over the course of the series, Christine sleeps with several men, many of whom feel indistinguishable from one another (aging, strong-jawed business-types with very clean suits and even cleaner apartments). It wasn't a masterpiece by any stretch, but it was a decent little experiment. While director Steven Soderbergh does a brilliant job picking a perspective on a subject like this and having a "fly on the wall" presence throughout, the film's inability to enamor or push beyond its initial thoughts on the economy prove to be very disappointing. It is still pretty good considering how Soderbergh filmed this as well as the fact that this does feel like an authentic look at a major event, but his inability to get inside his character's heads as well as not knowing exactly how to end his film mars its enough to say it is not worth an automatic recommendation. Their vanity and greed corrupts them to the point where some of them cheat on their wives. In the end, I always have fun seeing a Soderbergh film for the first time and The Girlfriend Experience was no different. The Girlfriend Experience Photos. Like the film, the show will focus on high-end escorts and all the craziness that surrounds this underground world. At one point, she asks her older sister if she thinks she could be a sociopath. Steven Soderbergh's 2009 movie The Girlfriend Experience worked in large part because of the lead performance of then-porn star Sasha Grey. The movie doesn't do the audiences any favors when it comes to excitement.
The Girlfriend Experience is, at times, irritating, captivating, uncomfortable, beautiful, heavy-handed, frightening, confusing, and a little bit dumb. Maybe then, more emotions and struggles could have been brought to the table for the actor to share. Sure, since that's what you obviously want us to think, the audience answers. ) On The Girlfriend Experience, this space exists in moody hotel room lighting and late nights at the office, coming up for daylight only when the dark gets too heavy. Characters who once seemed significant fade into the background. That's the elevator pitch for The Girlfriend Experience — one woman's experience of exchanging sex for money — but it's really just a starting point for the show's attempts to explore under-the-table transactions as a general space: the hidden exchanges of the economy, business, family, and sex. It's more just a character driven movie that has some statements to say about the Obama/McCain race and the crumbling economy. Throughout most of the series' 13 episodes, Keough maintains the same dead-eyed stare almost without interruption. It is not bad, it just had the potential to be so much more than it is. The soundtrack too recalls a specific kind of wealthy, ambient horror: single, piercing notes; ice clinking against glass; hotel doors unlocking with plastic key cards. I'm always open to movies like The Girlfriend Experience though; especially when someone like Soderbergh is directing. The floors are always shined and Christine rarely has a stray hair fall out of her bun. This movie has so many flaws that are hidden by beautiful cinematography and the casting choice of Sasha Grey.
It's extremely short and also feels like the audience is distanced from the characters. The Girlfriend Experience is a show about having explicit but perfected sex in beautiful hotel rooms. "You meet men online? " Directors Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz told The Verge they shot with almost no lighting save what came into each scene naturally. The Girlfriend Experience is definitely not a portrayal of most realities, and probably not a portrayal of any single person's reality either, escort or otherwise. Steven Soderbergh's latest lo-fi production is strikingly crafted but emotionally vague.
While her escort friend talks about her work, Christine asks, "And you have sex with them? " Moody hotel room lighting and late nights at the office. The Girlfriend Experience is aesthetically beautiful, and almost consistently stunning to look at. This stoicism can also make Keough sound like an unintentionally comedic robot. Almost all of the show is shot in apartments that look more like showrooms than homes, and high-ceilinged hotels with overpriced restaurants attached. Like Soderbergh's original movie (he stays on as an executive producer here), The Girlfriend Experience is obsessed with specific spaces, and the feelings associated with those spaces. The show is a lot like its main character: distractingly beautiful, but ultimately empty, even when it treats you to a little glimpse of humanity. The Girlfriend Experience's performances just aren't good enough to create it. Every scene leading up to a sex scene can feel like a threat. These effects only heighten the fact that show already feels like a political thriller. Steven Soderbergh who has directed countless high profile stars gives Grey nothing to do. Jul 27, 2012Chelsea: After he got off the phone, we made out for a while and then he asked me to masturbate, which I did.
Even while trying to claim that sex is no big deal, The Girlfriend Experience is often hand-wringing and squeamish, treating physical intimacy like an act of body horror. When we meet Christine, she's a law student with an internship at a glossy patent law firm, and she's semi-scandalized by the idea of being an escort. This time around, the story moves to Chicago, where Christine Reade (Riley Keough) becomes interested in escort work after she discovers a close friend makes most of her income from it. But in a show that feels like it's shot in a museum, the men often seem like the closest thing to flesh and blood. A high-priced escort is basically a hooker. It is in the style of a movie like Bubble more then a movie like Ocean's 11. She gasps at another point, as if this wouldn't be any logical person's first assumption. "I love vacations" is among the best / worst line readings on the show.
The only thing that is lacking in The Girlfriend Experience to create that same realistic effect are the performances. The Girlfriend Experience is obsessed with money, status, cheating, and getting caught. A "sophisticated escort" goes about her life and we watch it take place. Keough's portrayal of Christine is calculated, cold, and pristine, like a revamped Patrick Bateman. You might also likeSee More. Though, like the movie, we doubt any of it will be truly sexy and more likely kind of sad and uncomfortable, so yeah. Grey is not completely responsible for her stale performance. Aug 02, 2011The Girlfriend Experience feels like an experiment in film-making. Nevertheless, she has decided to make the transition to film that leave many people scratching their heads for the reasons. Jul 08, 2011The beauty of the movie lies in the way the scenes appear as being stolen stills from reality. The problem lies within its overall delivery which is lifeless. Long, patient shots seem to slow down time, even as more than a year passes over the course of the series. The things that were entertaining had to be the rich clients.
At 77 minutes, it crawls towards those minutes feeling like two and half hours worth of cinema. Though she had virtually no acting experience (sadly, we can't count playing yourself on a bad season of Entourage as acting experience) she gave an honest, chilling portrayal of a high-end escort searching for deeper meaning in life.