Naturalistic performances and stylish, semi-documentary-style cinematography and editing (both courtesy of the director) make for an engrossing, insightful study of internal and interpersonal conflict while an affecting coda merely confirms the understated, non-judgmental tenderness underpinning the entire movie. Rather, the film takes a curious but clear-eyed and compassionate look at one young woman’s attempts to maintain near-absolute control of her life, even when new, complex emotions arise.
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In such a relationship, the factor of money makes the motives fairly direct on both sides. Steven Soderberghs 'The Girlfriend Experience' is about a prostitute and her clients. Set during the run-up to the 2008 presidential elections, this is no sex film (though it does go as far as a kiss) nor, for all the characters’ talk of money, work, Obama and other timely issues, is it a dry political tract on the ethics or economic basis of prostitution today. It is not universal, but within its particular focus, it is unrelenting. But a couple of unforeseen events rock the boat: she visits an ‘erotic connoisseur’ whose offer to help raise her online profile turns sour, and she finds herself, simply on the evidence of a phone call, unusually attracted to a potential new client. She’s mapped her future meticulously, and even the personal trainer she lives with is cool with her business plan. But this time it’s even more indie in spirit, low-budget, mostly boasting non-professional actors (save for 21-year-old porn star Sasha Gray as the lead), and offering not so much a plot as an impressionistic portrait of a lifestyle dilemma.ĭeluxe Manhattan callgirl Chelsea (Gray) gives good company: for $2,000 an hour she offers regular upmarket clients not just sexual satisfaction but looks, decent conversation, agreeable company – what they’d like from a real girlfriend. Released hot on the heels of ‘The Informant!’ – though actually made before it – comes an equally rewarding Soderbergh film.