Review of Girlfriend Experience (2008) by Andrew P — 03 Jan 2010

If I were other film directors I would ask Steven Soderbergh to take a break; he's making us look bad. Dubbed another Soderbergh experiment, this film has all the high-gloss polish of a big studio picture, but latches its hooks into the moment the way nearly no other films do.

Set against the upcoming 2008 Presidential election, the film is more about the power of having power with sex and money merely off-shoots of it. I don't know how much acting porn star Sasha Grey did in this film, but her disaffected performance really works well here.

If you like your movies in chronological order and with narrative plot, this may not be for you - the film is more about ideas than forward motion. But give it a chance and you may discover a quiet little gem.