I really liked this movie, and the cast was more than adequate, actually they were exactly the individuals this type of movie requires. I rather thought that Sasha Grey was good in her role, and think that she really has the potential and talent for acting, way, way beyond just the adult movies and entertainment industry. You should see some of the modelling pictures this girls has, she can sport from a classy looks to the trashiest one, from classic clean cut to the sexiest, raunchiest one.
I watched the interview and Q&A she did at Brandeis University a while back, and she's is most definitely not dumb or cheap or whatever array of other names people usually throw her way. She was very clear, concise, confident and answered the questions with no problem. I mean I'm a movie lover, but I will admit that I have not yet seen a Fellini, Bergman or Godard picture...For her age she is mature beyond her years, an old soul trapped in that really nice body of hers...
Anyways...I liked the look of the picture, and the detached manner in which it approached both its characters and the subject matter. I am glad that Sodebergh choose to stay away from explicit scenes of sex or nudity, there is some but it is tastefully done and it makes sense within the movie's overall framework, there is no gratuity in it.
Another point of attraction and interest for me when I usually watch a Sodebergh movie, is the quite unique point of view he takes as a directors, the type that makes of his viewers the proverbial fly on the wall. With the exception of "Erin Brokovich" and the "Ocean's 11" movies, almost each and every one of his other movies contains that almost voyeuristic quality. This is apparent more or less in "Traffic", "Out Of Sight", "Solaris", "The Good German". The strongest manifestation of this technique is in "Sex Lies And Videotape" and now in "The Girfriend Experience", in a way it's almost like he has gone full circle from that movie to this one, especially since I found that there are some similarities between both pictures.
While watching "The Girlfriend Experience" I felt as if I was intruding on somebody else's life, almost like a peeping-tom or s spy surveilling his targets. The only other movie that has brough upon this sentiment was Coppola's "The Conversation". The almost snuff-like quality and look of the movie instills in me some level of guilt as if I was watching my neighbours living their lives, perhaps shallow and superficial at first glance due to the detachement I feel as a voyeur, but surely with much more substance than meets the eye. Yet Sodebergh does not want his viewers to necessarily empathyze or identify with the people on-screen, or find them loathsome and disgusting either.
As the OP said, watching this movie is like watching a slice of life unfolding before your very eyes. The people are what they are, and any judgments, thoughts or ideas about them or regarding their thoughts, choices and actions come from within ourselves, our own biases, our personalities and manner of thinking and viewing the world. Chelsea might appear as a superficial airhead, consumed with herself, self-involved and narcissitic, but is she? Is there more there than the camera shows? I think so...there is more behind her vanity and materialistic concerns.
If one looks carefully, one could see a longing and a thirst for belonging, for real attachment, company and love. The only one who seems to provide any level of that is her boyfriend, but is he? Or is he just in love with the real her or the facade she puts on as a way not only to satisfy her clients but as well to cope with the world around her, a world that expects her to act and behave in a certain way.
All the characters are flawed and incomplete, but not anymore than you or I, they are as people are, on ocassion complex and complicated while at other times fake, phoneys, superficial and shallow, we all have some of these qualities and shortcommings whithin ourselves to different degrees.
What I found fascinating is the struggle going on inside Sasha Grey's character, between Chelsea and Christine, what people want to see her be and what she is, though neither aspect of her personality or character is ever really explored or explained. It seems that she herself has a hard time telling who she is, or what aspect of her is winning out, Chelsea of Christine, who will permanently establish itself in the end?
That and answers to whatever other questions and issues this movie raises, must be answered by the viewers. Sodebergh merely provides us with the keys, it is up to us to unlock the door and walk through...Otherwise the peephole is all you get.
This movie requires people to be involved and proactive, rather than detached and passive, eventhough the movie is presented as cold, detached and rather emotionless. To see moviemakers still be willing to create such films is encouraging, especially these days when we want everything to be spoon-fed, easy and readily explained with a luxury of details etc...
Good movie and a good effort from Sodebergh and co.
"Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday"--Anthony Hopkins
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viewer-1230
9 years ago
I thought I would reply to this thread at least six years later as I just saw this film now and really did like it. You know like you loco_73 at some point in the film I felt a little bit like I was a spying on some of the moments these people were going through. It was interesting to see some of the life of this call girl playing out and some of the characters she interacted with. Also it was fascinating how the story flowed time wise and in the end I think my mind processed it well enough. The whole film all worked for me in the end.
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