Customer Reviews

American Gigolo

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gere is terrific in this somewhat unusual film. We love him as the ladies companion and as he pretends to be a flamboyantly gay decorator so as not to "out" his client AND as he works the room in search of new prey. His vulnerability to Lauren Hutton is obvious from their first meeting. Gere's character is interesting, intelligent, serious, and good at his job. He is also compassionate and polite. We leave the movie wanting to take him too! Great film!

This film is stylishly shot and poorly acted, and paced at about the speed a rich old woman might utilize to putter about the perfume section of Neiman Marcus.

I think it would have been more interesting if Julian had been an amnesia-suffering killer who, after his rich senator's wife angel rescues him from prison, murders her, too, and then goes back to turning gay tricks on the "bad side of town." But that didn't happen.

A lot of male/female dialogue in this movie is truly cringeworthy, and the funniest line to me is when Julian's lawyer tells him "The maid saw you try and rescue Leon, so they're not going to prosecute on that" after Julian pushes the guy off a twelfth floor balcony. That's like shooting someone and then being let off because you put a pillow under their head while they died. I also found it peculier that in a sprawling city of ten million or so people where supposedly no one ever leaves their car, characters keep running into one another on city streets and shops.

All in all, a good snapshot of wealthy LA on the cusp of the eighties, but there really isn't much more to be gleaned from this movie than that.

One note on the sound quality of the DVD. The dialogue is very hard to pick up at times, which forces one to turn up the volume quite high. This gives the viewer an unpleasant jolt whenever the pounding Moroder tunes come in, because they are recorded very loud. Be warned.

The significance of American Gigalo is capturing the mood of the disco movement in its waning days, and not of a compelling story line that draws you in.

The story line itself is weak, as other reviewers have already panned it. A gigolo is framed for murder, set up by him pimp. Living the cream of life in its riches on his good looks, a murder accusation send his good life down a spiral. Along the decent, he picks up the love of a prominent politician's wife, who becomes his savior and true love, perhaps for the first time in his life.

What makes American Gigalo fun is capturing the last breadth of the disco movement, of the lifestyle of when casual sex was safe, drugs were no big deal, and the music was still dance-able. This was the film that made Richard Gere the movie icon that he is today.

Watch this movie for a trip down memory lane, but don't expect a great story out of it.

As would FLASHDANCE, AMERICAN GIGOLO helped to set the tone for the nascent 80's, though not to the extent that the former movie ultimately would.Nevertheless, as we watch, we see that emerging decade called the 80's unfold. Clearly disco was on the way out and new wave was on the way in, as evidenced by the soundtrack and fashions of this film. Also, you will see portents of the Miami Vice look that would become all the rage five years later.AG probably represented the last bastion of promiscuity and homosexual activity that flourished free of the threat of AIDS. The disease, if it did exist in that day in age, was probably so obscure that it wasn't even discussed even among those in the medical community.AG is the story of Julian Kaye, played by a painfully young-looking Richard Gere, a high-priced male prostitute who services the older, wealthier women of Beverly Hills. Handsome, well-paid, sophisticated, and intelligent -- he is conversant in several languages -- he seems to live an enviable life of privilege and ease.He remains emotionally unattached to the women he comes in contact with until he catches the eye of a cool blonde named Michelle, played by Lauren Hutton. She appears to be his equal in every way, but there is a cloud of mystery that surrounds her that Julian can't quite fathom. They part, and he doesn't expect to see her again until she unexpectedly shows up at his apartment. They spend the night together and come to the conclusion that they are in love.Julian discovers Michelle is the wife of a prominent Senator shortly after he's asked to fill in for a fellow prostitute's gig. The assignment is to pleasure the wife of a million-dollar businessman. To Julian's horror, he reads of this woman's murder a few days later in the paper. His pampered existence is tainted by this tragedy. As his and Michelle's clandestine love flourishes, he realizes that he's being framed for a murder he didn't commit. Who is doing this to him and why are reasons he can't figure out. In vain he tries to obtain an alibi from friends and acquaintances, only to have them withhold help. Then one is promised to him by Leon, a fellow prosititute, but he has his own reasons for vacillating which come to light later in the film. Michelle wants desperately to help him, but she has everything to lose and absolutely nothing to gain by providing an alibi.The plot takes a few twists and turns as the film comes to its surprising conclusion, but one thing that's never made clear, or perhaps I wasn't paying attention, is where exactly Julian was on the night of the murder. It's obvious that he's innocent, but where was he? He may have spent all or part of that night with the wealthy woman who, along with her husband, repudiates him, but I'm still not sure.

"American Gigolo" is high on my list of Guilty Pleasures. This 1980 thriller wallows in the troubles of the rich, the infamous and the decadent. Its main characters have too much money, which can be a good thing, and too much time on their hands, which can be a very bad thing. There is a sort of perverse pleasure in watching them sort through their various problems, most of which are indirectly of their own making. Writer-director Paul Schrader has always cast a cynical eye on human endeavors. Sometimes, his insights have been absolutely brilliant. [He wrote both " Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull".] But even when he is playing around, as in "American Gigolo", he creates for us an interesting world, which can also be repellant because we see a certain amount of truth in his characterizations.

Richard Gere is Julian Kaye, a very well paid [and apparently well educated] LA hustler. His specialty is wealthy, older women. Arrogant and self-assured, he has made his share of enemies in his shadowy world, especially among his pimps. Things get complicated for him when he falls for Michelle Stratton [Lauren Hutton], wife of a prominent political figure. But far worse is in store for him after a client is murdered and Julian becomes the number one suspect.

Giorgio Moroder contributes a lively musical score - very 80s. John Bailey's cinematography is first-rate. He captures the vanity and vulnerability of Julian right from the opening shots, for example.

This is one of those movies that has more detractors than admirers. To me, it is wildly entertaining in a dark comedy way. Its one big fault is a contrived happy ending, which is diametrically opposed to the tone of the rest of the movie.

This early Paul Schrader effort is as slick--and vapid--as the city in which it's set, yet still strangely compelling after all these years. Richard Gere delivers his usual flat performance as the titular character, a walking billboard for all that's wrong with style over substance; here, though, his monotone facial expressions and speech actually work, as the character has the emotional range of his condo's designer furniture. Ironically, model-turned-actress Lauren Hutton delivers a surprisingly steady and honest performance as his love interest, despite having to utter lines that often barely rise above soap-opera level in quality. But the real star of the film is the production itself. The visual and aural model for what would become "Miami Vice," the film still seems modern, crisp, and glossy, even with the poofy hairdos, micro-shirt collars and tinny hatchback cars. The story is little more than fluff; Gere's Julian is framed for murder, and Hutton--the wife of a bigwig politico with much to lose if their affair is discovered--is his only alibi. In a half-hearted attempt to infuse some much-needed moral fiber, Schrader forces Julian to confront the many people he's wronged, as well as the empty but expensive lie that is his life, including hints at the character's bisexuality (controversial stuff in 1980). Despite Hector Elizondo's caricature performance as a Columbo-esque detective and the fact that the film celebrates being shallow as much as it condemns such behavior, it scores some hits, not the least of which is the breezy opening song by Blondie.

There are very few movies that turn a woman on so much. Most movies about sex show it as agressive, this is the exception: a story about a man who wants to make women climax. Gere sizzles in every sex scene. But aren't some of those scenes clipped inthe video?

Richard Gere is remarkable as a Male Prostitute in this gritty, but glamorous protrayal of a fella that's lookin' for love in all the naughty places!

I like the crime story element much more than the love story between Mr. Gere and Ms. Hutton...But mostly I like that a typically female role (especially in main-stream cinema) was played by a great leading male.

Recommend this as a Double Feature with Pretty Woman (although I'm not a fan of Pretty Woman for film sake...it's good to see Richard turn the tables on his life...Imagine it as a Prequel to Pretty Woman. It'll give the storyline a whole new spin!!)

This is one of two breakthrough films for Richard Gere. The other one was "Officer and a Gentleman", which cemented his status as a bankable star. This is also an early film for mega producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, ConAir, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor). In this film, Gere plays Julian Kaye, a gigolo who services the sexual needs of wealthy older woman. One of his tricks gets murdered and suddenly all the evidence points to him. Of course, his alibi refuses to admit he was with her because it would be scandalous. The last half of the film is devoted to Julian trying to discover who is trying to frame him. Concurrent with this plot is the story of his love affair with Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton) the wife of a wealthy Senator.

The story isn't bad, but the dialogue is mindless and trashy, typified by Michelle's repeatedly begging for sex from Julian in the most profane and explicit terms. There aren't any surprises that aren't completely predictable, and the mystery of who is framing Julian is painfully obvious. The film features Blondie's hit "Call Me", but after hearing a couple of dozen Georgio Moroder variations on this theme on his synthesizer, it gets tiresome.

Gere's performance shows promise here and his generous nude scenes make this film a favorite among his female fans. Gere exudes a smart and sophisticated machismo in this film that would be his trademark for years to come. For Lauren Hutton, who was more famous as a Supermodel than an actor, this role is probably her most notable. She does an adequate job of playing the aristocratic wife with an untamed libido, but is in no danger of winning any acting awards.

This is an interesting film to watch from a historical perspective if you are a Gere fan, but it is by no means a classic. I rated it a 6/10. Weak writing hamstrings a decent story and keeps it from rising above mediocrity.

The famous scene, and you know the one I'm talking about, prompted thoughts of a good alternative title for this film: American Jiggle.