Review of Girlfriend Experience (2008) by Newt C — 18 Jun 2009

Frustratingly close to amazing, this is a film to be studied for its ability to match theme to plot to character to technical filmmaking to... well, everything. It's an incredibly self-contained character examination.

Where it frustrates me, what I feel are the greatest weaknesses, are what I consider to be overdone attempts to frame the character drama in a sociological environment, a B-story involving the protagonist's boyfriend on a trip to Vegas which doesn't go anywhere (except to reinforce the aforementioned sociological B.

S.), and a non-linear structure that is hit-or-miss. Sometimes the non-linear beats work well, but sometimes they just muddle events unnecessarily. One could argue that the boyfriend stuff and the non-linear beat progression are an effort by Soderbergh to make us feel the protagonist's distancing even more.

But I think Sasha Grey's acting and the dialogue do all that work already, making those other efforts feel forced and artificial. Lest ye think I'm just going to snark about the bad, I do want to point out the good.

As mentioned, Sasha Grey's performance is a revelation. She has stated in interviews since this film that she prefers adult work at this point in her life. While I respect her choice, I sincerely hope she does more mainstream work at some point down the line.

The technical filmmaking is, as expected, gorgeous. Soderbergh knows how to get the image he wants, that's for sure. As mentioned, I appreciate how he keeps scenes framed at a distance when Christine is with a client or her boyfriend.

You can even see that sometimes when she's with her boyfriend the shot is tighter or looser depending on their relationship status. It's the same with her clients. The ones she likes are framed closer, the ones she doesn't are further.

When filmmakers lens their work based on the subtext of the scene, I'm a happy boy. What I really, truly love is the way that the technical aspects and acting eventually chip away at this stoic, almost esoteric exterior until we see the real girl underneath: a slightly flakey girl at a crossroads in her life, getting older in a youth industry, feeling self-conscious and threatened by her competition, and desperate for the validation of her clients.

By the end of the movie, we understand that for Christine the "girlfriend experience" is as much HER need as the need of her clients.