The Girlfriend Experience

Reviewed by:
Eric Alt

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

The Skinny: A high-end call girl (Sasha Grey) who specializes in "the girlfriend experience" (not just sex, but dinner, conversation, and, presumably, an annoying roommate and a cat) lives and works in Manhattan at the tail end of 2008.

The Good: Soderbergh made waves by casting real life porn star Grey but, sadly, that backstory is more interesting than what ends up onscreen. Soderbergh deserves kudos for taking breaks in between Ocean's sequels to indulge his inner indie filmmaker, but…

The Bad: …Girlfriend, like some of his others, tends to verve more into self-indulgence than audience engagement. The idea of having a movie about sex starring a real porn star that is actually tasteful and not at all exploitative or explicit is intriguing, but the movie ends up being as cold, bland, and disinterested as its amateur actress lead. The point Soderbergh is making—that every transaction, even emotional ones, are ultimately financial—not only isn't a new concept, but it is beaten to death throughout Girlfriend's running time with all the subtlety (but none of the energy) of a neon sign. File under: Career footnote.

The Company of Glenn: The only time the movie comes close to showing a pulse is during a genuinely funny cameo by former Premiere film critic Glenn Kenny, here playing a sleaze who "reviews" call girls in exchange for freebies. A quick Google search will show you hundreds of videos of Grey doing triple anal and she doesn't look nearly as disgusted as she does sitting on a couch with Kenny.

Theater, DVD, or TNT in Five Years? This ain't coming to TNT, but, honestly, you could miss it entirely and not "miss it," if you know what we mean.

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