Couldn’t find a review of it so I decided to write one. Maybe I just missed it or something?
The life of a high class escort as being depicted by Steven Soderbergh and acted by Sasha Gray?
I was a bit cautious of it at first. Both the risk of it stepping into some sort of romantic drama territory with a sugar coated ending, and the doubting of Grays acting abilities were my main concerns.
Neither occurred, though in the second case it’s hard to tell. More on that later though.
As I whole I have to say that I liked it. At times it even reminded me of Lost in Translation, mainly when it comes to the camera and editing. That shouldn’t come as a surprise though, since both Coppola and Soderbergh likes to keep the camera rolling rather than cutting. Fine by me, as long as it looks good.
And in this case it does. It’s got a somewhat documentary feel to it, maybe because of the fragmented nature in which the story is told, or maybe because it’s shown to take place in the real world somewhere just before the election, with the political discussions that brings. Though it could also be because it doesn’t really focus on Chelsea, our main character. The focus is actually on the girlfriend experience the film is named after.
For those unfamiliar with it it’s what you could call a simulation of a relationship. You pay someone to act as your girlfriend. Sometimes that means a nice dinner, a movie, sex, or just sitting around talking. All of which occur at one point or another.
Chelsea acts more like an anchor to which the relationships in the movie are tied. We never really get to know her, and if this is a result of lacking acting abilities or a conscious choice to show Chelsea as the actor she actually is I can’t really tell. The fact that the reporter interviewing her also notices that you never get past her armor seems to indicate the later though.
In either case it works pretty well. Just don’t expect it to be a gripping drama or a deep character portrait and you should be fine.
