Review of Girlfriend Experience (2008) by Drew S — 24 Nov 2009

Didn't work for me. It's an interesting stylistic experiment and I appreciated some of the things that Soderbergh was going for (the recurring theme of currency, monetary or physical) but Sasha Grey is utterly charmless. The character of Chelsea calls for surgical, objective distance from the events that surround her; we're supposed to get the idea that she is observing her clients and their fears from a perceptive, intelligent distance. Grey is glassy-eyed. She just seems bored. This is the movie's primary problem, and why I didn't care for it much. The character isn't supposed to be a pawn for Soderbergh - by the end of the film we're supposed to see her as an emotionally functioning, real person, but it's hard to cohere to someone who's spent the last hour with the same stony, inexpressive look on her face. Nothing this role called for, like the ability to project inherent inquisitiveness or an analytical nature, is within Grey's skill set. It's stunt casting gone wrong.

Perhaps you'll feel differently, but even if Grey works for you, the movie accomplishes very little. You could skip it without any regrets.