Reviewed by Doug Cooper
Stars Sasha Grey, Chris Santos, Mark Jacobson, Glenn Kenny, David Levien, Philip Eytan, Christina Nadeau, Ron Stein, Marshall Gilman, Michael Roberts
Written by Brian Koppelman & David Levien
Certification UK 18 | US R
Runtime 77 minutes
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
This is one of director Soderbergh's more personal and idiosyncratic exercises – small scale, semi-improvised and self indulgent, though not without interest and mildly agreeable to boot.
His lead actor is Sasha Grey, a 21-year-old porn star and performance artist – she's won various erotic awards including Best Oral Sex Scene, Best Three-Way Sex Scene and Best Group Sex Scene at the AVN (Adult Video News) Awards. She plays Chelsea, an escort in Manhattan going about her business of meeting clients. Don't expect anything salacious though. We only see her briefly naked once and no sex takes place. It's more an exploration of what makes her tick mentally. The various males she's with vary in style, age and quality. Movie critic Kenny plays a particularly sleazy character, that of an erotic connoisseur who is willing to give her a good review on his call girl website if she succumbs to his advances. Levien plays a married man with children whom she connects with. When he asks her to go away with him for a weekend she accepts, but this jeopardises her relationship with live-in boyfriend Santos, who until now has been willing to accept her way of living. They certainly have a nice apartment.
Other men take up her time too and we see her in conversation with them, their assignations containing long pauses and little insight. The recession is also discussed at various times. Santos goes on a trip to Vegas with three colleagues and en route they discuss the bailout for the banks and how the economy is tanking. It's an odd effort, watchable but never that enlightening. Grey is certainly attractive, but dead behind the eyes. Is she a good actress? Debatable. But she has a natural presence and she's surrounded by actors who are believable. No-one comes across as very likeable or charming however so there is little to warm to though the subject is mildly compelling. Soderbergh retains a formal if loose approach to it. A curio that unfortunately never fully satisfies as a whole though there are some good individual moments.