Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2009
The Girlfriend Experience
Buy The Girlfriend Experience now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'The Girlfriend Experience' is a 2009 American slice of life drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring ex-pornographic actress Sasha Grey. It was shot in New York City, and a rough cut was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. The film was also made available on Amazon Video on Demand as a pre-theatrical rental.
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 and was shot with a relatively inexpensive Red One camera.
Synopsis
In the days leading up to the 2008 presidential election, a high-end Manhattan escort meets the challenges of her boyfriend, her clients, and her work. Chelsea (real name Christine) specializes in offering girlfriend experiences. She finds that lately her clients are spending less and less on her services, and are troubled by the financial crisis, a topic they raise frequently in her company. She is also interviewed by a journalist, who quizzes her about her work and personal life. She goes from client to client performing her services.
Cast
* Sasha Grey as Christine, alias Chelsea
* Chris Santos as Chris
* Emma Lahana
* Philip Eytan as Philip
* 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
*Kenneth Myers as Craft Steak Matre d
Reception
at Exxxotica Miami (2009)
, the film has a 67% approval rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 139 reviews with an average rating of 6.39/10. The website's critics consensus states: "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."
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kyle Smith of the 'New York Post' awarded the film 1 star out of 4, saying "Time for another of Steven Soderbergh's 'experimental,' i.e., half-assed, films." 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', wrote that the film is "disposable and pretentious" and "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."
Television series
In June 2014, Starz committed to a 13-episode order for a new television series, based on the film, with Soderbergh and Philip Fleishman as executive producers. Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz co-wrote and directed all 13 episodes. Sasha Grey and her character were not included though the main character uses the same name(s). Riley Keough stars as the new lead, described by Soderbergh as "a new character on a new trajectory". Well-received lead actress from Season 1, Riley Keough, did not return in Season 2 of 'The Girlfriend Experience'. Instead the show featured two new stories focusing on two different sets of characters. Season 3 of The Girlfriend Experience was announced in July by Starz. Season 3 will be Executive Produced by Philip Fleishman and Steven Soderbergh and will feature Julia Goldani Telles in the lead.
References
Buy The Girlfriend Experience now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 2009