OK, so I just finished watching the GFE on HDNetMovies thanks to their one night sneek preview. Let me just say, I'm glad I didn't pay $10 to see this in theaters. It was crap, I'll give it a D+. Let me start by saying the so called "acting" was horrific. Sasha Grey was beyond wooden, and totally out of her league. However, all the actors in this film were awful. No true emotions, stiff, ludicrous dialogue, ugh. It was total stunt casting to get Sasha Grey. I knew their was not going to be any sex, this is Soderbergh after all. Their was two nude scenes, one ffn! and one at the very end of the credits, so stay in your seats. I'm sure Soderbergh could have found any number of "real" actresses willing to take their clothes off on screen, and not subject us to this. The movie did basically touch on the hobby, but obviously, it was more from the providers perspective than the hobbyists. It showed how se kept a journal of who she saw, what she wore etc. The film mentioned "The Erotic Connoseiur" as a review site. There was a character who offered to "trade" his services as a website designer for her services, and he'd write a good review. It never said whether she did or not, but the guy wrote a scathing review, and she was devastated by that. I liked Oceans 11, 13, and Erin Brockovitch, but this film was mre like Traffic. It was told out of sequence on many occasions, and it was very difficult at times to know wtf was going on. Several characters, I was like, who the fuck is this guy? In the film, she has a boyfriend, and their relationship is strained when she wants to go out of town on a "date" w/a hobbyist she just met. She feels like they clicked. Her bf gets pissed and threatens to leave her, she doesn't care, only to have the hobbyist change his mind b/c he wants to go home to his family after feeling guilty. So, she just returns to the hobby, and the film ends. There were several points of truth in this film, but it only scratched the surface. In order to really understand the hobby, you have to be in it. Soderbergh does not understand the hobby truly. The best example is the show Secret Diary of a Call Girl. That show is very true to life, b/c it's based on a provider's journal. Soderbergh should've researched better. If I were you, I'd wait for the dvd, and not waste $10 on this film.
She was talking about the guty she'd trade services for to a hobbyist. She said the guy would "write a review stating she'd given him the time of his life", "which I know I give anyway". Um, modest aren't we Sasha? Everyone's tastes are different, and you can't possibly please 100% of the time. There was also another scene w/a hobbyist at the end that made no sense. She meets him at his business, and they go to the back. She strips down to her bra/panties, and he takes his pants off, but leaves on all the rest of his clothes. I'm thinking, maybe she wants to wait until he's fully undressed before she strips, as some providers do to make sure the hobbyist isn't LE. Instead, the guy comes forward and (still dressed) hugs her?! Then starts making sounds that had me confused as to whether he was crying or cumming?! And then the credits just like that. Um, ok, WTF? Fortunately, it was only 75 minutes, b/c I would'e started pulling my hair out if I had to sit thru much more of that.
Tried 2X to get through the first 10 minutes and I just couldn't. It was too... blah.
All the hype I've heard about the movie have been through the porn and adult film blogs / networks.
So the overwhelming majority have thought it a breakout movie for Sasha and a hit akin to the first Basic Instinct.
Knowing that I would see the movie through a providers eyes, I was hoping to hear what someone else in the hobby thought of it.
You're the first ... thank you!
~Bella
how did you all like the movie?
Sasha Grey is beautiful and arguably has the best ass in porn.
That being said, I found this movie to be not only a total waste of time, but also an insult to hobbyists.
"The Erotic Connoseiur" is a hideous character who makes review writers/readers look like the worlds biggest scumbag scam artists. I know it's only a movie but people watching are going to think that this guy is the reality. Scumbags are the exception, not the rule.
As far as the movie - Who is this character anyway? Where did she come from? How did she get into the business? How did she meet her douche bag boyfriend and how did they come to their unusual agreement? All the interesting stuff is left unseen.
This movie is a bunch of "no's". No character. No background. no reasonable reason to feel for her. No sex.
Total bummer.
The argument with her boyfriend before she went on the trip. It actually developed them as characters and illustrated what kind of relationship they had and how they set boundaries to be able to be in a committed, otherwise monogamous relationship while she was working. THAT is interesting. That has a potential to be part of a good story.
>All the interesting stuff is left unseen.
Seriously. To me it's like a decent movie was filmed, and then all the boring outtakes that should have been left on the cutting room floor were spliced together and packaged as the film instead.
And, ugh, the meta dialogue conversation about "the movie" at the start of the film? Gag.
I also saw the movie on HDNetMovies and was likewise very, very, very disappointed. While there were hints of the hobby, I thought it was all extremely contrived.
As mentioned, Sasha's acting was about as bad as they come - she's beautiful, but serious acting is not her forte. Also, it was funny to me how little sex actually happened for a movie called The Girlfriend Experience. Even though I knew that we wouldn't be seeing explicit sex scenes, I thought that there would be at least more references to it (similiar to the Secret Diary of a Call Girl) than what was shown.
The movie just reminded me of a bad Stanley Kubrick film where the "naughtiness" of the hobby was enough to be titilating. I would have been interested in life from both sides of the equation - from the provider and the hobbyist - since each goes through their own unique challenges to meet up.
Ultimately I found myself just shaking my head about how unrealistic everything was - how many people actually meet their providers at their place of business? in the middle of the day at that? I would understand middle of the day sessions (that's standard procedure) but at my own place of business? That's just asking for trouble.
They should have gotten Charlie Sheen to make the movie - I'm guessing he has enough experience with they hobby. 
You know that part where the reviewer voice over describes the main character as having a "flat affect" and an "utter refusal to engage"? He was actually describing the whole movie.
This film could have been great. How disappointing. At least now I know why the trailer was dialogue-free.
Also, LOL @ screening via "personology".
