The Girlfriend Experience

Steven Soderbergh's latest indie experiment coasts on the efforts of its extreme-porn-queen-cum-legit-thespian Sasha Grey as Chelsea, a $2,000-an-hour-call girl living in NYC with her fitness-trainer boyfriend Chris (played by Chris Santos). A looming U.S. Presidential election and a zombie economy expose American society as a culture of whores. Chelsea writes in her laptop diary about every transaction she commits, when she isn't meeting with consultants about developing her website and a line of clothing. Meanwhile, Chris tries to better-deal his standing as a respected personal trainer, and hedge his bets selling a line of sports wear. Drama arrives when Chelsea breaks the rules of the couple's relationship by running off with a married client who she imagines might be the answer to her dreams. Former Premiere magazine Editor Glenn Kenny is hilarious in his role as a very sleazy know-it-all opportunist. Ultimately, though "The Girlfriend Experience" is a brief cultural oil check with a dipstick that you can barely read. What the film shows is that Sacha Grey can act, and Soderbergh shoots beautiful compositions.
Rated R. 77 mins. (C-) (Two Stars)