Steven Soderbergh brought his experimental "The Girlfriend Experience" to Sundance this year as a "work in progress," but the only real difference between that version and the one debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival are the end credits and some needed color correction.
Seeing the film a second time, however, does bring its somewhat fractured narration into sharper focus and further underscores the irony of a mistress of illusion falling prey to the illusion herself.
Because the film concerns an upscale Manhattan call girl played by porn star Sasha Grey, the film will obviously entice more than the Soderbergh faithful. Yet this is an experimental film and features very tame sex scenes and only one shot of Grey nude in a very dark bedroom. So her fans may be irritated by this uptown experience.
Magnolia Pictures will premiere "Girlfriend" on VOD April 30 and release the film May 22 in Los Angeles and New York theaters. The film is the second of six low-budget HD films Soderbergh will make in a deal with HDNet.
Covering five days, the film follows Chelsea (Grey) on several dates as well as off-hours confabs with a girlfriend and, surprisingly, a boyfriend, Chris (Chris Santos), who is apparently comfortable with his girlfriend's occupation and certainly comfortable with the plush pad the job buys.
Chelsea specializes in the girlfriend experience, acting as a romantic companion at dinners and movies along with delivering whatever sexual experience the guy wishes. In her diary entries, which are heard on the soundtrack, she records each date: what she wore, how the guy reacted and where they went.
Many scenes revolve around dining and cocktails rather than the bedroom. At one lunch, Chelsea subjects herself to a journalist's questions -- played by journalist Mark Jacobson -- but the film never explains the interview's purpose. Certainly she is trying to expand her business at a time of economic downturn by conferring with Web site managers and businessmen.
The improvisational film, lightly scripted by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, comes at you in pieces but not all the pieces are in order. In one crucial subplot, you know the outcome before Chelsea even meets a new client. Sound from one scene can bleed into the next. Dialogue will continue over a new scene, or the movie will return to a scene much later.
Seeing the film a second time, however, does bring its somewhat fractured narration into sharper focus and further underscores the irony of a mistress of illusion falling prey to the illusion herself.
Because the film concerns an upscale Manhattan call girl played by porn star Sasha Grey, the film will obviously entice more than the Soderbergh faithful. Yet this is an experimental film and features very tame sex scenes and only one shot of Grey nude in a very dark bedroom. So her fans may be irritated by this uptown experience.
Magnolia Pictures will premiere "Girlfriend" on VOD April 30 and release the film May 22 in Los Angeles and New York theaters. The film is the second of six low-budget HD films Soderbergh will make in a deal with HDNet.
Covering five days, the film follows Chelsea (Grey) on several dates as well as off-hours confabs with a girlfriend and, surprisingly, a boyfriend, Chris (Chris Santos), who is apparently comfortable with his girlfriend's occupation and certainly comfortable with the plush pad the job buys.
Chelsea specializes in the girlfriend experience, acting as a romantic companion at dinners and movies along with delivering whatever sexual experience the guy wishes. In her diary entries, which are heard on the soundtrack, she records each date: what she wore, how the guy reacted and where they went.
Many scenes revolve around dining and cocktails rather than the bedroom. At one lunch, Chelsea subjects herself to a journalist's questions -- played by journalist Mark Jacobson -- but the film never explains the interview's purpose. Certainly she is trying to expand her business at a time of economic downturn by conferring with Web site managers and businessmen.
The improvisational film, lightly scripted by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, comes at you in pieces but not all the pieces are in order. In one crucial subplot, you know the outcome before Chelsea even meets a new client. Sound from one scene can bleed into the next. Dialogue will continue over a new scene, or the movie will return to a scene much later.
