American Gigolo (1980)

“This is my apartment. Women don’t come here.” – Julian Kaye

Number of Times Seen – 1 (10 Apr 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A popular gigolo is framed for a murder of one of his clients and must try and find a way to prove his innocence.

My Take on it – This is a film that I’ve heard so many things about over years both good and bad yet never really had much interest in seeing what it’s all about.

It unfortunately doesn’t live up to the expectations that I had for it.

The film is quite tame in the way that it depicts the various acts that these characters engage in despite the fact that things are meant to be quite racy and shocking since they are not.

The crime elements of the film aren’t dealt with properly and things are presented quite lacklusterly and not thrilling or suspenseful at all.

Richard Gere does a nice job in the lead role yet he fails to really shine about anyone else here since his character comes across as being quite superficial in all that he says or does.

The plot moves along at a strange pace and doesn’t manage to stay satisfying since things are shown in a very disappointing manner throughout.

As a fan of Hector Elizondo, I had hopes that he would be able to give this film a nice boost, yet the character that he portrays is quite weak and that makes it hard to take him seriously as a detective trying to solve a complicated case.

Bottom Line – This is a film that doesn’t manage to live up to its expectations,. It is quite tame in the way it depicts things and the crime element isn’t presented in an interesting way. Gere is quite good in the lead, but he doesn’t manage to shine through enough because his character comes across as being too superficial the whole time. The plot plays out in a disappointing way and things don’t feel as satisfying as one would hope that they could be. Elizondo is usually great in films, but he is a pretty weak detective in this film because it’s hard to take him seriously in the role.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Reportedly, one of the reasons John Travolta turned the film down was because he wanted final cut approval and director Paul Schrader would not give it to him. Travolta allegedly kept the Armani suits especially tailor made for him in the film. The picture is one of at least four films that Gere has done after Travolta had turned them down, the others being Chicago (2002), Days of Heaven (1978), and An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)