Steven Soderbergh is known as a stylish and risk-taking director. Some of his movies become blockbusters, some cult classics, and some are never even seen by the mainstream audience at all. Soderbergh seems to be a genuine artist, someone who cares more about the experience of shooting and the story he wants to tell rather than a man looking for money and prestige. His first film, Sex, Lies, and Videotape revolutionized independent films in the late 80's. Erin Brockovich and Traffic were both nominated for various Academy Awards. Soderbergh is a name worth reckoning with in Hollywood, but occasionally he likes to make pet projects, and The Girlfriend Experience is one of these.
A rough cut of the film was shown at Sundance in January, but now it is officially out on DVD. It gained a great deal of notice due to its subject material – an escort who serves intimacy more than sex – and the controversial choice of porn star Sasha Grey as the lead. The Girlfriend Experience is about Christine AKA escort Chelsea who is struggling to become a more savvy businesswoman in today's economic collapse. The movie is very much a period piece since it involves current politics, such as Obama's rise to power and the bailouts, plus it is set very solidly within modern Manhattan. Christine has a set amount of faithful clients who she services by pretending to be their girlfriend. They have someone to lean on and to talk to about their day to day stresses, and they can bask in the adoration of a pretty young woman. Sometimes it doesn't even end in sex, but rather they feed off her affection and attention.
The movie is shot with a portable high def camera, or so it would seem, and it doesn't really require many fancy shots or special lighting. Instead it grounds itself in reality and seems like a slightly better version of a home video. This might sound like a bad idea, but it works for the tone of the film. The actors are not exactly actors, with one character being played by New York magazine writer Mark Jacobson and the scummy reviewer played by entertainment critic Glenn Kenny. Sasha Grey herself is passably good, although she does not need to show much other than a poised, fake outer shell.
The Girlfriend Experience does not delve in deeply to the questions it brings up, about intimacy and capitalism and sex in the new century. The camera just takes in what everything looks at on the surface, and the audience is free to draw from it what they wish. This is an interesting film to watch but not necessarily a profound one. It doesn't answer its own questions or contemplate what it could mean, but rather just shoves it in your face and goes 'look!' In many ways this is what makes it work, but it also leaves a dissatisfied taste afterward, like the knowledge there could've been more to say. Still, for an independent movie made on less than two million dollars, it's quite an achievement.
The DVD comes with an alternate version of the movie with just a few different camera shots and scenes, an HDNet featurette about the film, and a commentary with Soderbergh and Grey. The latter is one of the most interesting parts of the entire DVD, and it actually made the film better hearing Grey's point of view and what she was trying for in the scenes. I think it ended up breathing more life into Christine to know a lot of Grey's empty-eyed choices were intentional. 
Overall this is a visually interesting film with Soderbergh's classic style choices and real-life glimpses. The script is a bit on the awkward side and some of the characters are given no chance to breathe. However, this is a movie that is not necessarily entertaining, but certainly interesting. You can draw your own conclusions out of the character choices and motivations, and it does a superb job of setting the time and place. Whether this will stand up in time due to its exact date remains to be seen, but it succeeds in being a thoughtful and provoking independent film. The nudity is to a small degree and considering this is a movie about sex, there's no real sex scenes to speak of. It's about the business of sex, not sex itself. It's rated R for content, suggestion, and language. The Girlfriend Experience is out now for Blu-ray and DVD, and if you're a fan of Soderbergh it is worth a buy.
ComicsOnline gives The Girlfriend Experience – 3.5 dead-eyed escorts out of 5.
