Steven Soderbergh’s latest movie, The Girlfriend Experience, focuses on the life of a Manhattan call girl played by mega-porn-star Sasha Grey. Sex is on her menu, but the main course is the titular experience; for $2000 an hour, she’ll be your girlfriend, despite having a “real” boyfriend of her own. Grey’s character is making a fortune, but — Soderbergh implies — at some less-quantifiable cost to her humanity.
The movie is slick, clever, and funny, but is its depiction of high-end hooking at all realistic? Was Sasha Grey’s smoky New York pro at all believable? Why not ask the experts — a real high-end call girl, Trista, and a real high-end client, David. I sent them both to a screening to see what they really thought of The Girlfriend Experience. — Ondine Galsworth
What did you think of The Girlfriend Experience?
Trista: I really liked some of it, and some of it drove me nuts. I loved the cinematography and the pace. The color of the movie — the grayish moodiness. And the sets, the restaurants, the street scenes — it made me miss New York. It made New York sexy.
David: I have very mixed feelings about it. I definitely enjoyed it, and thought about it quite a bit afterwards. It was more arthouse than mainstream. Visually, it was very meditative, very poetic, even beautiful. But I found it to be a very lonely and sad movie.
Who did you find lonely?
David: Definitely all the men. What a sad bunch they were. And the Sasha Grey character seemed lonely too, but she was so unemotional it took until the end of the film to feel her loneliness.
Is it accurate to portray the clients as lonely? Isn’t that why they’re buying the girlfriend experience?
David: I’m sure it’s that way for some, but the whole point is you’re paying a lot of money for a really good time, a fun time with a fun person. You’re paying for the convenience of it. You know what you’re paying for. Like a five-star hotel — you pay through the nose, but hopefully it’s worth it.
Trista: I thought many of the clients were funny as hell, but really, the first was the only one who rang true for me. It was just the way he was put together, on the ball, confident, in control, classy, smart.
Are they often that attractive?
Trista: Sometimes they are that cute, yeah.
Do you ever develop crushes on your clients?
Trista: Sure. Sometimes the chemistry is really good, but that’s good for the client, like he has a mini-girlfriend.
Hence, The Girlfriend Experience.
Trista: Yup. The GFE. Expensive, but exactly what some guys want.
What did you think of Sasha Grey as the lead?
David: Really pretty, but a bit dour for me — that flat affect, like maybe there’s nobody home. She was kind of bleak. Some men may want exactly that. But there wasn’t a scene where I thought, “Yeah, I’d drop and grand or two on her.”
Trista: I thought she was gorgeous. I wonder, though, if she was told to be so serious by the director, or if that’s just her demeanor. That sort of threw me.
At that level, when you’re getting paid really well, there’s an expectation that you’ll engage the client. I didn’t see her doing much of that. Your job is to be enthusiastic, often bubbly. It’s like she didn’t get it, like she was pretending to be at a higher level than she was. She was beautiful, but blah. Guys don’t want blah, they want engaging. Like when that guy told her the story about that unexpected $10,000 bar tab — where was her reaction? She should have been all over that.
David: It’s not like she wasn’t beautiful, as was her body. But she was just too unemotional for me. That’s not sexy.
Trista: I understand her cold and disconnected part — some part of you has to be that way to be in the business — but the client can’t see that.
What about her super-fancy clothes?
Trista: All gorgeous. But again, some of it was a bit too serious-looking, like she was a powerful CEO or something. Elegant is great, but you don’t want to look intimidating. She needed to look more fun.
Spandex dresses, that kind of thing?
Trista: If that’s what the client wants. Some of them want miniskirts and big hair. She just needed to sex it up a little, even though it’s not just about sex.
Explain.
Trista: A call girl at her supposed level needs to be totally charming and a whiz at conversation. She has to be worldly, well-read, funny, a good listener, and a good talker. The GFE is just that, a girlfriend for a day. It’s not like the guy can fuck you all night or even wants to. He wants to share a bit of life with you, and you can’t be a moron who doesn’t get what he’s talking about.
Did you ever warm up to her?
David: Yes, when she finally showed some emotion. The end of the movie made the movie. She was more of a real person there.
What else seemed off to you?
Trista: That scene with the gross blogger — sorry, Glenn Kenny. One of my favorite scenes by the way, so funny. But as far as realistic, again, a girl at that level would never have fucked that guy to get a review from him. It made her look amateurish. She should have been sharper than that.
Not something you would do?
Trista: No fucking way! I would have walked into that shithole and walked out.
What did you think of her boyfriend?
Trista: I just didn’t understand why they were together. What was her motive? It didn’t seem like she loved him, so why be with him? He was hot — why would he put up with that?
David: I didn’t get their relationship, unless they wanted to show that Chelsea was completely incapable of having a loving relationship. But why would the guy stay with her? He didn’t look like he couldn’t find another girlfriend.
Do you think you’d like the movie if you weren’t in the business?
Trista: Oh my God, yes. I probably would have loved it! It had everything I love: fashion, New York, funny dialogue. And I really liked looking at Sasha Grey — she was so elegant. I can’t believe she’s a major porn star! And a really naughty one to boot!
But because of your own experience in the call-girl business you couldn’t just enjoy the movie?
Trista: I was too busy judging it. I couldn’t just sit back and get into it. I know too much.