1 O " S 'fi'9t Monday, June 15, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 'Girlfriend' turns more than tricks . By ANDREW LAPIN Daily Film Editor There is a scene in the obnoxiously cute- sy 2005 romantic comedy "Hitch" where Will Smith's wholesome "love doctor" character is approached by a sleazy client who wants help get- The ting laid. Smith is offended by what he sees as a gross Girlfriend misinterpretation of his Experence job: He helps establish- relationships with lasting At the State connections, he argues, 2929 not meaningless sexual affairs. In the world of film, as in the real world of public con- sciousness, there is a very distinct ethical and emotional line between these two types of male-female interactions. "The Girlfriend Experience" exploits - and at times silently mocks - this entire idea. Here is a film that views prostitution simply as a business, a means to an eco- nomic end that can exist side-by-side with an actual, committed relationship. The main character, Chelsea (real-life porn star Sasha Grey, whose IMDB credits include films like "Sasha Grey's Anatomy"), is a suc- cessful New York escort. Though Chelsea never explicitly states how she bills herself to her clients, it's implied that her appeal to them lies in something more than sex: They pay her for providing companionship and inspiring confidence. One takes her to a movie, then awkwardly tries to discuss the film with her afterward. Others just want to talk about their failing jobs and/or failing marriages. So Chelsea's allure must be that she gives lonely men "the girlfriend experience" for a price. The fascination of the film is that her character is also a full-time girlfriend: She's in a long-term relationship with Chris (relative newcomer Chris Santos), an ath- letic trainer. Chris is somehow OK with her line of work, but when Chelsea decides to go on a weekend getaway with a married man she's just met, Chris draws his line between cheating and business-as-usual. Why is this? Perhaps it's because she's going with the intention of looking for something greater than a hooker-client relationship. After all, intention becomes everything when all the other elements of a relationship can be bought and sold. Per- haps the emotionally detached Chelsea has lost the ability to connect with people on a meaningful level, and perhaps Chris and all her clients have, too, because they believed in the healing power of artificial connec- tions. This all sounds like yet another tale about a hooker's inner turmoil. But director Ste- ven Soderbergh ("Che"), using the barely- there filmmaking style he last showcased in "Bubble," is interested in something deeper. "Man, it's really acid out today." His cast is made up of non-actors, and his unmoving camera captures their discom- fort and vulnerability as they stumble over each other's (mostly improvised) lines. Soderbergh also overlaps conversations about the country's eco- heichinanaiu P R E S E N T S |i nomic downturn with Chelsea's very busi- nesslike descriptions of her clientele, and inter- cuts arguments about the 2008 presidential election with Chelsea's philosophies about "personology," a pseu- do-science that she uses to predict what a client will be like before she meets him. HOURS Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00p Sat 8:30-3:00nm Yet Soderbergh's intentions tend to vary from muddled to downright nihilistic. He may be using the parable of Chelsea and Chris to purge meaning from all relation- ships, as he never gives the couple an oppor- Real-life porn star goes mainstream. tunity to be happy in their situation. But though a grander statement seems to be at work here, Soderbergh must realize that the film's hard-to-swallow central conceit (a lasting relationship built around a girl who has sex for money) prevents it from working on its own terms 3ERS as a realistic story. Once this becomes apparent, all the cinema verit6 tricks in the world won't help. }m But even if "The Girlfriend Experience" never connects with its audience on the level that Soderbergh is hoping for, it remains a fascinating speci- men. Even in the very last scene, the film is challenging the way we define what constitutes a relationship and it presents the audience with different forms of male-female connection that transcend (or take the place of) sex. Hitch might rethink his own t.CQM philosophy if he was ever to meet )ME! Chelsea. SICK OF THE DORMS? CAN'T FIND A PLACE TO LIVE? Visit michigandaily.com/cfassifieds to see all of the great houses and apartments Ann Arbor has to offer on a convenient map! Also be sure to check out the Classified Pages for other great properties.