Review: The Girlfriend Experience
A lot has been made of Sasha Grey’s role in Steven Soderbergh’s new film, The Girlfriend Experience, especially by the adult press. Our news outlets have a serious (self-hating?) obsession with porn performers “crossing over” into the mainstream and a porn actress making an independent film with an Oscar-winning director is certainly a far cry from, say, Zombie Strippers.
The Girlfriend Experience is about an expensive New York call girl named Chelsea and her boyfriend, a personal trainer, set during the fall of 2008 while the presidential campaign and the recession were both in full swing. The film follows them around to a variety of meetings where they both whore themselves out, albeit in slightly different ways.
It won’t come as a surprise to the many people who’ve noted that her porn performances tend to be a bit lackluster and flat that Sasha played her character competently, but without much emotion. The problem is, I’m not sure whether this was simply a mediocre performance or how her character was intended to come off. Perhaps both.
A complete lack of character development coupled with a meandering storyline is what sunk this movie. By the time things actually began to happen in the film (internet drama, forbidden love, relationship turmoil), I didn’t care. It wasn’t even clear exactly what was occurring at some junctures because Chelsea had no discernible motives or emotions.
To put it bluntly, The Girlfriend Experience was not a good movie. But it wasn’t Sasha Grey’s fault.
The reason I say it wasn’t Sasha’s fault is that she was barely even a character in the film she was supposed to be starring in. We see more of the back of Sasha’s head than any other part of her. When she’s not facing away from the camera, she’s often visually obscured by curtains, beams, darkness or furniture. These angles were so noticeable that it felt like Steven Soderbergh’s directing was the real “star” of the film.
Overall, it wasn’t a movie I enjoyed or would recommend seeing, but I didn’t hate it. I would say, however, that if you want to watch a Sasha Grey movie, Fashionistas: Safado would be a better choice.
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Tags: movie review, sasha grey, sasha grey review, steven soderbergh, the girlfriend experience, the girlfriend experience review
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 2:21 pm and is filed under reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
6 Responses to “Review: The Girlfriend Experience”
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May 21st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
G man says:I am the only one out there who is getting just a little fed up with the whole Sasha Grey crossower frenzy?
She is a pretty hot girl who fucks quite well for the camera (though I could mention a sting of porn actresses who are sexier – not to mention more varied – in their performances). She is also more well-spoken than most women in the business and her opinions are marginally interesting.
And that’s about it really. Yes, she has contributed to porn in a positive fashion. And yes, she has sparked the odd thought-provoking comment. But she is neither a screen actress of epic scope – nor one of the original thinkers of the age.
Enough already. Now let’s get back to the truly important porn topics such as Alexis Texas’ ass.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:44 pm
alison says:It is big and round…
May 25th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Third Axis says:Any porn performer who sets herself up to be a “spokesperson” for anything, no matter how seemingly informed, profound, or eloquent, is setting herself up for eventual ridicule. Honestly, nobody – outside of our little industry blogs – gives a rat’s ass what porn people have to say about ANYTHING. That is, apart from the pervy novelty of seeing one occasionally appear on TV. Just stick to having sex on camera, and leave the pontificating to others with far more credibility, Sasha. And one mainstream crossover film, does not a career make.
May 28th, 2009 at 11:57 am
alison says:Third Axis,
I think one person who’s taken on the “spokesperson” role pretty well is Ron Jeremy. He does a lot of talks at universities and he was on a variety of reality shows as something of a face of the industry. Nina Hartley is another good example. What do these performers have in common? They’re over 35 and can articulate themselves well. I think Sasha has a few more years before she’ll have the gravitas these performers have (if ever).
May 31st, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Third Axis says:Right you are, Alison. Both Ron and Nina are great speakers; however, one major thing that gets them over, is that they don’t take themselves too seriously (even if they’re speaking on serious topics). Ron is just hilarious, and Nina is witty as well. Sasha, on the other hand, appears to think that she’s some kind of porn elitist, and comes off as a bit arrogant, in my opinion. She has none of the warmth of Ron or Nina, and that extends to her performances, which strike me as cold and aloof. She is articulate when speaking about her career, as we’ve all seen recently, but she needs to be more aware how she comes across.
The majority of people want to ridicule the porn industry as it is, so when a young woman (and as you point out, that is a definite handicap) attempts to position herself as some member of the adult intelligentsia, then she better be prepared to take some serious, and probably cruel shots from her peers and others. I wish her well.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:34 am
alison says:Third Axis,
I think you hit the nail on the head. Taking yourself seriously is a great way to fail at anything you do – especially talk about porn to mainstream audiences. I think as Sasha gets a little experience under her belt, she’ll figure this out.