The Escort

The above synopsis (that written on this Amazon page, next to the film title) is all wrong. So I will attempt to write my own.

The Escort is a sincerely honest film following the life of a young, female escort (Natalie) who feels 'forced' into the profession because of a past experience. When she catches the attention of a young unemployed 'journalist' (Mich), who is also a sex addict, she finds herself questioning her lifestyle. I'm kidding, they actually happen to have a lot of common ground- who'd have thought? So there is no judgement of one another, and they devise an agreement to help one another: Natalie agrees to be the subject of a controversial journalism project, that may just win Mich the career of his dreams. And, Mich agrees to serve as Natalie's protection and security (against reckless, violent clients), per Natalie's request. They hit it off, as friends, getting to know one another. But then, they become more....but are either of them ready for that? Natalie pursues a sex-filled life because it's all she can do. For Mich, it's all he wants to do.

This film is very mature, but surprisingly there is no nudity. And the acting and casting choices were commendable. It really worked. I would say there definitely was comedy in this, but it wasn't very strong. The only comedy I appreciated was how Mich's family and friends reacted to the revelation of him being a sex addict. What I didn't appreciate was having a twelve-year-old curse and utter such profanities -this is not comedy. Having to resort to this, to get a laugh from the audience is cheap and crass. I would say this film is more of the drama genre.

The only other thing I didn't like was how Mich had no respect for women, he used them for sex and then, dismissed them easily. This was expected of course, (for a sex addict), but I didn't like it.

It was strangely refreshing to find that this was not a film where love forcefully changes you. Instead they made the choice to change their lifestyles for love, there was no obligation to do so: it was based on opportunity. This means that Mich was not her 'saviour', she was an independent but lonely woman. She didn't need him, she wanted him. If that's not love, I don't know what is.

Likewise, it was also refreshing to find that Natalie was not brought into the 'escort' business because of a poor upbringing, 'that it was all she ever knew'. It wasn't that at all, she was actually Stanford -educated. Such controversy.

I hope that talking about sex doesn't bother you, otherwise you won't be able to appreciate this comedy.

It's a love story spiced with some very good characters. Lindsy Fonseca is pretty (as she was in Kick-Ass) and Michael Doneger plays the part very well: he also wrote the script (together with Brandon A. Cohen), which is an always noteworthy something.

The story flows fluidly until its natural end and effortlessly keeps your attention high. It deals with talented (and good looking) young people living unusual and interesting lives. And the result is entertaining.

I liked this movie better than I thought I would. The truth is, it's a lot more thoughtful than your average navel gazing indie. My major critique would be that the director/actor/writer should give up either acting or directing in his own films. His performance is disconnected and he's obviously talented so it feels as if he's maybe wearing one too many hats.

The Escort is a fun movie to watch with friends, a partner, or even by yourself if you're just really bored and you want to watch a new movie. I recommend you to watch this movie not expecting high quality, but rather just to enjoy a silly love story between two people who'd normally be unlikely to associate with one another by choice. For what the movie has to offer and for not being high budget, it really worked out in my opinion and the two main characters are really cute together. Would recommend this movie to anyone who wishes to watch a movie they haven't seen before in the romantic comedy/drama genre.

The movie stays away from the damsel in distress theme and the female lead is a strong independent woman whose motives, feelings and thoughts are explored throughout the movie. It's awful that it needs to be mentioned, but that's one of the few movies where I think the female lead is portrayed as a real person. Fonseca with her stellar performance round it off and make her character very relatable. Unfortunately Doneger's character is a tad underdeveloped which makes him a lot more the typical RomCom lead, with all the tropes and predictability. And in my opinion most of it is due to the fact that they went for the typical 3 act structure, which wouldn't have been necessary, considering the chemistry the leads have. Bottom line, the movie is worth watching if you're not totally opposed to RomComs. The story has redeeming qualities, the acting is good and the ending, although predictable, has a bit of a twist. And Bruce Campbell is in it.