| View Larger Image | The Girlfriend Experience | Video On DemandStarring: Sasha Grey, Chris Santos, Peter Zizzo, Timothy J. Cox, Timothy Davis
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
Also With: Mark Cuban (Producer), Gregory Jacobs (Producer), Todd Wagner (Producer), Magnolia Pictures (Producer)
| 1 New starting at: | $14.99 |
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| | Binding: | Video On Demand | | Rating: |  | | Run Time: | 78 minutes | | Studio: | Magnolia Pictures | | Release Date: | October 06, 2009 | | Genre: | Art House | | Synopsis: | Set in the weeks leading up to the 2008 presidential election, THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE is five days in the life of Chelsea (adult film star Sasha Grey in her mainstream film debut), an ultra high-end Manhattan call girl who offers more than sex to her clients, but companionship and conversation - "the girlfriend experience." Chelsea thinks she has her life totally under control--she feels her future is secure because she runs her own business her own way, makes $2000 an hour, and has a devoted boyfriend (Chris Santos) who accepts her lifestyle. But when you're in the business of meeting people, you never know who you're going to meet...The twentieth film from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (TRAFFIC, OCEAN'S ELEVEN), THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE is a sexy, gorgeously shot time capsule from the not-too-distant past. | | Sales Rank: | 13,379th |
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 35 reviews)
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Interesting Movie by Laura (Los Angeles, CA USA)  4 Stars
November 24, 2009
Fascinating view into a world I will never know (which is a good thing). Sasha Grey is very real in this movie. More so than some of the other actors - maybe because she is basically playing herself? Don't know but it doesn't matter.
This movie affected me. I wanted to know why someone so beautiful would want to be an "escort." And when I googled the actress, her porn films sound really disgusting - far worse than what she is doing in this movie. So I'm thinking that in real life, she was probably sexually abused by her stepfather. That's just my guess.
Her aloofness says to me that she was very hurt emotionally early in her life because she is now numb.
It's really sad because she could have just gotten into regular modeling and I'm afraid that she is using her life to promote pedophilia, even though I don't think she realizes that.
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phenomenal by bullethead (Staten Island, New York USA)  5 Stars
November 22, 2009
"Phenomenal" is the very word I said after watching "The Girlfriend Experience". Sasha was absolutely fantastic in this film, the quest for companionship, the quest for "getting to know" someone on many levels is what this film is about. There was a sense that this esoteric Manhattan woman was something special to many people. The film dealt with the struggles and life of being a so called "High End" escort.
I felt this film captured the lifestyle that many business types lead. A must see film for people who just don't get what it's like to live in the "High End". The story is exceptional, it takes place right after the 2008/2009 financial collapse, classic razor like humor which is seen on the private jet, the film is also excellent quality and I checked it out on demand here @ amazon. I don't usually watch too many films but this one is a great independent film that's worth the time it takes to watch it.
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The Girlfriend Experience by Joshua Miller (Coeur d'Alene,ID)  2 Stars
November 12, 2009
Steven Soderbergh is an experimental director who's not afraid to take chances. He's directed mainstream movies and then he's dappled in the more obscure, independent cinema. The Girlfriend Experience is a film that falls into the latter category that is (oddly enough) written by David Levien and Brian Koppelman who together penned the script for another Soderbergh film...Ocean's Thirteen. Strange, right? Most of Soderbergh's independent efforts fly under the radar, but this one got a little more attention than usual because of his decision to cast the young, controversial adult-film star Sasha Grey in the lead role.
Grey plays a high-class escort who gives her clients "the girlfriend experience," which is the one thing separating her from a hooker. Sometimes, with her clients, sex will not even be involved and instead she will simply go to dinner with them and listen to them talk...And get paid quite a bit for it. Later, she'll recount exactly what occurred with the client. Nothing about the plot of this film is linear and Grey isn't the only character in the film, but identifying the role others play in the overall scheme of the movie is nearly impossible.
The film basically begins with characters having endless conversations about how bad the economy is and when these conversations do eventually cease, people talk to Grey about her job and what it requires of her. Like the talk about the economy, this is equally uninteresting and uninformative. A few people have actually applauded this film for it's statement about the economy or it's study of Grey's character, but make no mistake about it...This is not a character study nor an inside look into the world of high-paid escorts. It comes off like the script was written by two people who had heard of escorts but didn't know much about them and tried to strain the limit of their knowledge about the subject.
I really didn't get the feeling that this was a social commentary either, no matter how much it tried to seem to be. Any social statement Soderbergh and/or the writers were trying to make is lost anyway and the film seems dated mere months after its release.
Now, people have complained about Sasha Grey's performance. I can neither praise nor criticize her performance as this role does not require much talent or acting ability. She is not given a character with emotional depth and, as such, is not required to convey much emotion. Truthfully, more of her emotions are probably on display in her other "films." She says her dialogue convincingly and that's really all her character is given is (meaningless) dialogue. In that sense, she's not bad...Soderbergh clearly saw something in her because it's clear she wasn't cast because of her previous "performances." While Grey does have some brief nudity in the 79-minute film and a very brief nude scene after the credits, you can see more of Grey by typing in her name on google without the safe search on.
I honestly expected to like The Girlfriend Experience. I read all the poor reviews of it and heard how "boring" it is and I typically find something admirable about it. Just because a film is boring doesn't mean it's NOT a good film...The Girlfriend Experience isn't incredibly boring, but it's NOT a good film. This film evoked no emotional response from me and is so bland and dull; it doesn't even inspire enough energy to express hatred for it. I mean, it's a film with hollow, empty characters and strange, inexplicably amateurish cinematography. It doesn't succeed as a parable of today's economic crisis and it certainly doesn't succeed as entertainment. It's a film so absent of admirable qualities, it's a wonder that Soderbergh didn't have his name removed from the credits.
I won't flat-out say "I hate this movie" for one reason...The Girlfriend Experience is one of those rare movies that fails on so many levels, you won't even express any severe distaste for it simply because you'll have completely forgotten you've watched it a few hours later.
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Perfectly Disconnected GF by David M. (Champaign, IL) 5 Stars
November 04, 2009
I've always been a huge fan of Steven Soderbergh (all the way back to sex, lies & videotape). I even read that "screenplay book" which described the evolution of the story and the process he endured to get the film produced. Since 1989, it's been wonderful to watch Steven go between Hollywood and his art house roots. The Girlfriend Experience is one of my favorite such returns to those roots.
While this film definitely isn't for everyone, I thoroughly enjoyed Sasha Grey's performance as the perfectly disconnected escort. There's almost no nudity (just Google her name if you feel like you need some), and one almost senses her appetite is more geared toward the business knowledge she gains (from her clients) than the satisfaction she gives (to her clients). The soundtrack was also incredible (yet NOT available) in tying the empty emotions of the characters in this film together.
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No sex? Not the point here. by Emi M. 5 Stars
October 29, 2009
Just saw the film yesterday.... its portrays (for a change) these people as normal, the clients, the escorts. I will have to disagree with most of the reviewers here. The clients are not deeply lonely people, well perhaps some are but thats not the point here, the point is that ultimately sex & love is what they are looking for. Can you buy love? Sometimes love probably buys itself but Sasha Grey's performance here is very smart and creates a character more human than most characters in film this year. She falls in love in this movie, and that creates a complex character that is impossible to judge. Bravo
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