(2009) Presented as if a documentary with chronology out of joint and running backwards, director Steven Soderbergh's weak drama (screenplay by David Levien and Brian Koppelman) of Chelsea (Sasha Grey), a Manhattan call girl, and her boyfriend Chris (Chris Santos), living together in a committed relationship for a year and a half while she provides escort services for clients, stretches credibility.

According to Chris, a trainer at a gym, anxious and looking for better opportunities in the downturned economy of October 2008, there's one rule: "You don't go away with clients." Offered a trip to Las Vegas, he turns it down because Chelsea can't accompany him.

Chelsea keeps a journal of her appointments with clients, "becoming something that they want," describing what she wore and what they said (such as concerns about the financial crisis) and did (some only wanting conversation or masturbation). With Philip, she went to see Man on a Wire, had dinner and wine at a fine restaurant, engaged in sex in the hotel room, and shared breakfast before departing (disappointed that he neglected to express affection for her).

A journalist interviews her, trying to find a chink in her "thick armor"; she's less emotionally distant in a conversation with another hooker. A promoter attempts to interest her in a junket he's arranging for flying girls to Dubai - a chance to up her profile and raise her rates - but first he wants to see what she's like for himself.

She pays for a website to advertise herself; she has competition. Others around her are trying to sell themselves and their talents, such as street buskers. A review on a message board describes her as having "perky tits" but being "the nadir of passion." She won't be beautiful and alluring forever.

Contacted through her website by David (Levien), a screenwriter (married with kids) from California visiting New York, she finds something attractive about him, which leads her into agreeing to go away with him for the weekend to the Hudson Valley.

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Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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