My Movie Review – “Girlfriend Experience”
Been quite busy lately, and I will admit that Twitter has made me somewhat of a lazy blogger! It’s a shame I know, but at least it’s a good way of keeping up with what I am doing. Like I was saying on there I am pretty excited for this upcoming week with some big conventions in town. This past Monday-Tuesday I was actually quite bored and had some down time, which I took the opportunity to watch “Girlfriend Experience”. I had heard some good words about it and since it was Steven Soderbergh, I figured it was worth a watch.
First of all I liked the way it was shot. The photography of the film is dark and rich in colors, which is something I always like in photography in general. Some of the out of focus shots I liked but one in particular shot in a bar scene was more annoying than artistic, but the nice contrast and feel in colors throughout the film I enjoyed.
The one thing I always have a hard time with shows about escorts or prostitutes is the believability of the characters and of the script. I feel the same disconnection when I watch Secret Diary of a Call Girl as well (which I need to watch on my DVR the new season 3!), and almost watch these shows or films as complete fiction and imagine a man wrote the screenplays. Some things that I found frustrating in the film was the poor acting by Sasha Grey despite the good reviews on the cover (I know those are always slanted). She came across as this emotionless, dull, and an easily manipulated character. At first I thought they were trying to portray her as a smart independent escort then I came to realize that she was written as a clueless, emotionless drone who let people tell her what to do and how to do her job, and believed every word they said. That disturbed me (especially the parts with the manipulative hobbyist that we’ve all read on message boards), since she fell into the trap of his game of trying to increase her traffic from websites or message boards. It shows these types of people that if you play games like the hobbyist did maybe the girl will actually be dumb enough to fall for their scheme. The line where he said, “I don’t think you realize what I can do for you” made me literally laugh out loud because I have heard silly lines like this all the time. Makes me respond, “I don’t think you realize what I can do for myself!”
Other things I thought were a misrepresentation were the listing of outfits and brand names like we are all very materialistic hookers only concerned with how much we can spend on name brands for the clients (most girls I know buy the expensive bags and shoes just for themselves to feed their shopaholic side not to flaunt to the client). In fact I have had some clients say, “I like girls who dress up and look like nice, normal women, but when I see a girl overly dressed in high end fashion it makes me feel less comfortable”, but of course to each their own. Another unrealistic thing is the screening process she went through with client from the website. Are you married? How many children do you have? I would have probably hung up on her immediately. Men want to escape to someone else’s company, not feel guilty about their personal life at home.
Seems like I am being quite negative about the film, but the very emotionless attitude of the main escort’s character bugged me as if to say we are all somewhat miserable and bored, and can’t be a happy cheery escort providing a service to people. The one part I did identify with the film was the way the conversations between her and some of the clients went. Most people like to vent and have someone listen, which I do a lot of, but I also enjoy participating in the conversation and seem interested than just sit there saying, “Yea, uh huh” every so often like she did.
So in conclusion, I think it’s a good stab at making a film that was about an escort’s life but fell pretty short. The cinematography was quality but the script and screening of actors could have used some work. I wish I could sit in and help Hollywood make a decent, realistic film… maybe one day 🙂
Tags: call girls, GFE, movies, reviews, sasha grey, shows
I don’t see why hollywood does not use real, honest to goodness advisers in making this kind of movies. I’m sure there’s a lot of pros out there who would be willing to offer their expertise. Maybe reality does not fit hollywood’s agenda.
January 31st, 2010 at 7:34 pmI hated the movie. So awful. I agree that it was beautifully shot, and Sasha Grey is so mesmerizing I’d watch her knit a sweater for hours, but that’s all I found likable about it.
The main reason I found it so terrible is not because of all the Hollywood hokum about what high-end call girls are like — I’m not so naive as to expect realism — but because of the script. Or lack thereof.
From an interview with Ms. Grey:
“Q. What did the script for this actually look like? Because it wasn’t a traditional script, what were you given to work with?
Sasha: It was a 15-page outline that I got the day before we started shooting. I would say each scene was there, but it was really just described. It might say, “Sex scene with Client B,” but there’s no sex in the film. We would get to set, look at that outline and sometimes, we would pick up the daily newspaper and, if there was something that jumped out to us, especially because we started shooting, literally the day before the economy crashed, we would pick things from current events that we felt related to our characters. Or, sometimes Steven would say something to one person, and then tell the other character in the scene the exact opposite.”
http://screencrave.com/2009-05-20/sasha-grey-interview-for-the-girlfriend-experience/
I read that and immediately was like, ‘Oooohhhhhh, so THAT is why it was so awful. Great job on ruining what could have been a great movie, Soderbergh!’
January 31st, 2010 at 7:44 pmIf you want Hollywood to make a decent film about the sex industry, I suspect it’s up to someone like you to produce a book that could serve as the foundation for such a project.
February 1st, 2010 at 1:20 amFrom what I’ve seen on your site, I suspect you might be up to the task.
It could be argued that Sasha Grey isn’t an joyful type actress but was used because people believed she could fill the part naturally. Most people probably wouldn’t have seen the film if it wasn’t for Sasha Grey playing the lead.
I agree the film had little content and wasn’t believable for a movie, but that was the fault of the “script” and “acting” if that’s what you could call it.
The problem in general with making a film about the escort business is that it doesn’t hold attention well. I would expect that the average process of screening, meeting, servicing, and leaving a client isn’t too interesting to a viewer, especially after the first watch. That’s why SDCG adds other drama and often shows non-average client services, because the usually business of an escort eventually becomes wall paper like any daily job.
February 1st, 2010 at 4:38 amFirst of all, I love your blogs and you paint beautifully with words.
Second, I’m just a no-name who wants to break into compositing film, tv, and commercials so these opinions are just from a grad student’s eyes.
Mark could well be right and you have something untapped here. Chris is also right in that usually it is a well developed character and not what the character does that makes or breaks the movie. I think because of time/money constraints they, the writers, didn’t research it well. Great stories also need to sustain believability. Unfortunately the mass population wouldn’t know any better in this realm.
I haven’t seen the film and after that review it sounds like it might bore me to death.
Side note – Courtesan! You are a cool character and I love the website layout. I personally can’t get my portfolio site to my liking. I am happy I stumbled on this blog and its perfume scented back alleys and high lofts is great for any hero or villain to slug it out. Sorry, nerd/geek leaking out of the ears again.
Thanks, Courtesan for your insight.
February 1st, 2010 at 7:07 pmI watched the movie a few months ago, and my opinion is very similar: I think it is nicely shot, but the plot seemed lame and boring.
That being said, I have to say that just because it’s a movie about an escort, it has to reflect the reality of escorts in general. The way I saw it, it’s a story about a (sort of naive) escort who seems to have missguided expectations of the business and what she can accomplish in it. Maybe some of it seems unrealistic because the main character’s viewpoint is unrealistic.
The movie tells the story of the main character, as far as I could tell it never tries to imply that all escorts were bored, emotionless and jaded like the escort in the movie. That same lack of emotion can be found in any profession, when people decide to sacrifice interpersonal bonds in order to further their career. The way I saw it, it could’ve been about a dude in any given profession, who’s a bit overconfident in his success, a bit missguided about his own potential, and forfitted on meaningful relations for the sake of his own career.
I do agree that the plot seems to buy into a stereotype, and it doesn’t seem to add anything new or exciting to other stories about escorts, which is why the plot was kind of boring. Ok, now I’m just rambling, so I’m just gonna get back to work. Later!
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:26 amI like what the previous commenter said. There are all kinds of people with all kinds of personalities in this world, and they can be found in any profession. In various blog posts, LVC has acknowledged the existence of escorts/prostitutes who are very different from her. Some make poor decisions (e.g. working for a pimp).
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:28 pmI don’t think Hollywood would ever make a movie about LVC. There ARE some prostitutes who have drug problems, who have pimps, who get involved in scams, or who become the governor’s secret girlfriend. These are the prostitutes that Hollywood will put on the screen. If we ask the writers to create a movie that shows all the different types of smart and foolish prostitutes, that’s like saying that Walk The Line should have featured some musicians who didn’t beat their drug addictions or Zoolander should have featured some models who weren’t self-absorbed. It’s simply not the filmmaker’s responsibility to present every different type of person.
On the other hand, it is the filmmaker’s job to place his main character in the situations (and in contact with the people) which would be realistically possible for someone in the character’s line of work. Thus, I must agree that directors/scriptwriters who are making movies about escorts should consult someone like LVC.
P.S. Thanks for sharing your perspective with us, LVC!
I thought it pretty good, but felt it jumped around a little too much for my taste, admittedly I’m not a huge movie connoisseur.
It seems that most movies either portray the woman as a happy go lucky type that is swept off her feet (most would think it’s kinda insulting for someone think that she needs to be saved), the down and out stereotype, or the money obsessed. The professionals of you out there – neither stereotype quite fits. Maybe the true movie would be about as interesting as a movie about an normal accountant. BTW, are there any good movies out there about GOOD business men or entreprenuers? Google good business movie and you get results like Wall Steet and Boiler Room. None of those are motivating to create a good business or have as a good role models.
Look up Pretty Woman in Wikipedia. It asserts that the movie was originally scripted as a dark drama of a Pygmaylon type; then rescript as a romantic comedy to sell more tickets. The Pygmaylon underlying is still there in that Edward dresses and teaches Vivian to act like vision of the ideal woman he has in his head.
February 5th, 2010 at 12:32 pm