The high class hook of The Girlfriend Experience

Despite the voyeuristic jollies derived from subject matter alone, the film's most enticing draw is Sasha Grey, an actual porn star, who plays Chelsea. As a "real" actress, I'm not sure whether to be impressed or bored by Grey. Her performance is either incredibly understated or incredibly undemanding. She delivers her lines with the utmost ice and upper-class ennui, like one of those vapid, deadpan girls from The Hills. But there is something more beneath Grey's perfectly groomed, Marc Jacobs-adorned exoskeleton that signals a ruthless hunger or a guarded self-consciousness. Or maybe that's just what I'd like to think. Given the apparent similarities between Grey and her onscreen Chelsea -- both of which utilize naivety and sex appeal to their advantage -- I think Soderbergh is on to something even more sensational than a juicy, high-priced-hooker story.

-- MIKE BERLIN

Previously > Drag Me to Camp Horror Heaven