A different experience than you may be used to. The Girlfriend Experience.

 I won’t make you wait till the end to figure me out here. I really enjoyed this movie. While there is always a concern when seeing a movie featuring non-actors it fell by the wayside quickly here. Sasha Grey, who happens to be a very young and active adult film star, is phenomenal. I am sure that if I saw her in any other film errr, mainstream theatrical movie I would have a much different opinion but she nailed this role, no pun intended. I have never seen any of her other “movies” but I have to think that her experiences in the adult film industry was the perfect precursor to playing the role of Chelsea. Her live in boyfriend Chris (Chris Santos) a personal trainer in the film and in real life is another non-actor. He is good looking, but the kind of good looking that is kind of hard to look at, his face seems to be carved from a piece of misshaped geological artifact. He is just as believable as Grey in his role.

Soderbergh uses a non-linear storyline to explore the life of a call girl and the relationships that make up her life. This area has been treaded on before, many times, most notably to me in one of my favorite movies of all time “Leaving Las Vegas”.

There is a lot of talking in this movie as in any movie about feelings and relationships. The plot revolves around Chelsea being interviewed by a journalist who wants the inside scoop on what its like to be a high priced call girl in New York who is also in a monogamous relationship.

Chelsea is a high priced hooker but that seems to be a front for the 21-year-old girl who essentially turns into a therapist for middle-aged men. She is professional, but not cold, she has sweetness about her with the men that make them comfortable and let them believe, if only for the night, that she is there for them. There is nothing amazingly clever about this film, surprisingly if only for the mere fact that it deals with a dirty business that often involves low-life scum bag type characters, drugs, police, and so on and so forth. For those who are curious, there are no drugs only drinks. No sex, only nudity. In the end, there are real emotions from real people in real relationships, no matter how out of the ordinary they may seem.

My Vote:  This film is in limited release so you may have to rent it, but its well worth the wait.