MAGNOLIA PICTURES has released his most recent film(before "THE INFORMANT"), "THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE," on blu-ray.  It's easy to get excited about any release from Soderbergh. Even his most commercial films, show some daring at times. His first film, "SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPES" dealt with sexuality and relationships with an honesty and form, rarely found in cinema before or since! So, with the story of a high-end escort as the basis of "THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE," it's disappointing to find the film isn't more remarkable than it is. Sasha Grey, a well known porn star, is ok in the lead role of Chelsea. But, "ok" for any actor or actress in a Steven Soderbergh film is disappointing by itself!  After all, he's the guy responsible in getting Julia Roberts to actually give a performance in which she wasn't at her usual worst! He got an Oscar worthy performance out of child star, Jesse Bradford, in the highly overlooked, but magnificent, "KING OF THE HILL" of 1993.  So, again, while it's notable that Grey doesn't overact as one might assume most porn stars would in an actual feature film, there's nothing about her performance that's notable, while there have been notably great performances from even small supporting roles in his other films. 

With "TRAFFIC," Soderbergh managed to make a multi-layered film compelling and still accessible to the masses, without having to ever dumb it down! Yet, with only a 78 minute running time, there's not even the semblance of anything really deep or provocative happening within the film, more than the fact it's dealing with a call girl.  "BELLE DE JOUR" and countless other films have had more depth. And, while the Denueve film and others were longer, thus, having more time to lay out a story, they were compelling within minutes! After an hour, waiting for something with real depth to occur, and nothing happening, "THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE" has to rank as Soderbergh's biggest disappointment thus far.  This reviewer has to admit to reversing opinion of this great director's work before. Having seen his film, "THE UNDERNEATH," in the '90s, it also felt disappointing, but upon seeing it again recently, it actually does rise to the level of a "great" film! But, it's doubtful anything in or about "THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE" bares a closer examination than its initial one-time viewing, if even that, so even more doubtful the opinion will change in years to come.

MAGNOLIA FILMS has done the best it possibly could with this blu-ray presentation. The original 2.40:1 aspect ratio is intact for the 1080p/VC-1 blu-ray.  Shot with 4K Redcode HD camera, grain is a necessary result to the process, and while heavy, it's acceptable. Unfortunately, contrast problems are annoying.  Of course, it also appears that Soderbergh intends for some detail to be drowned in shadow, so it's hard to discern whether or not some of these problems are due to the transfer or just a horrible, "artistic" choice of the director! Detail can be great, but there are moments where its not notably better looking than dvd.  Colors are intentionally restrained for the most part.

MAGNOLIA FILMS has provided a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix.  Fidelity is decent, although there's never any strong sense of intended depth. Surrounds and ambience are rarely compelling. Again, only an "ok" mix. Nothing of any note here.

MAGNOLIA FILMS is also offering an alternate version of the film as an extra, but, sorry, couldn't bare to sit through it after viewing the original film. However, a commentary presented in the format of an interview between Soderbergh and Grey, and it's awesome! Far better and intriguing than the film itself, it demonstrates just how intelligent the director is, and again, how disappointing the film isn't better!