| American Gigolo | | Cast : | Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton | | Director : | Paul Schrader | | Studio : | Paramount Studio | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | February 08, 1980 | | DVD Released Date : | March 12, 2002 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | February 28, 2005 | | Summary | i have a question if anyone knows.... | Content
 | Hi I was just wondering if anyone knows the song that is playing in the backround that he is singing when he's deciding which Armani suit to wear. It's not on the soundtrack so if anyone knows it I'd realllllyyy appreciate it if you e-mailed it to dollface10288@aol.com under the subject AMERICAN GIGOLO...thanks! |
| Rating | | | Date | January 13, 2005 | | Summary | Emotionless film effectively shows pitfalls of materialsim | Content
| American Gigolo is one of my favorite films and yet it is really not one of the greatest films that you might encounter. Shot in rich tones, particularly blues and greys, the director, Paul Schrader, wants us to know that we are not going to be afforded the opportunity to get to know the characters too well. One might be able to argue that American Gigolo was one of the films that literally catapulted the movie going public into the 1980's mindset of materialism.
Richard Gere in one of his earliest films, protrays straight male call boy, Julian, who is tops in his game. Julian is gorgeous and knows many gorgeous women. He sleeps with those who will pay him. He doesn't bother with those who won't. Julian's lifestyle is one of everything "is a means to an end". He is interested in beautiful clothing and looking good, but because it helps him get something that he wants. He enjoys artwork and stylish digs, but not because he loves them, but because they are status symbols for his success. Julian enjoys being a gigolo because he is the best there is. He wouldn't (and doesn't) enjoy it when it isn't on his terms. For someone like me who feels he is too in tune with his emotions, Gere's Julian is cool, calculating and enviable. He goes about life without a care for anyone but himself.
When Julian meets Lauren Hutton, he is actually smitten with her. This is evidenced by the meeting taking place in a bar with deep reds and comfortable upholstered booths instead of the abounding greys, blues, and steel evidenced elsewhere in the film.
When Julian finally becomes intimate with Hutton and allows his emotional wall down for a moment, Schrader pulls us in close, but just afterward he lets us see that Julian can't maintain such intimacy and the camera pulls back for a long shot of him as he gets out of the bed leaving Lauren Hutton alone in the bed.
The story is secondary to the style of the film. It is a thriller, but not an exciting one. The music of Georgio Moroder and Blondie complement the film and give it even more atmosphere. It needs it because the films two false endings drag this picture out longer than needed in trying to show us how emotional involvement can change someone. The message should be left that a lack of emotion can be dangerous.
I rewatch this film every so often. It's a guilty pleasure watching the opening of the film with Julian driving down the PCH in his 450SL. Or when he's laying out different Armani outfits determining which to put on. Or looking at paintings, never deciding where he will hang them.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 18, 2004 | | Summary | Not the best Richard Gere movie to watch | Content
| I watched this film with much anticipation but was left dissapointed at the end. The ending was predictable and the acting was subpar. I expected more from a Richard Gere movie. Not as good as An Officer And A Gentleman. Richard Gere's charactar Julian is very shallow and materialistic. Lauren Hutton gives a dry performance. She really isnt an actress. The film started off well but like I said earlier, the ending left something to be desired. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 28, 2003 | | Summary | American Nightmare | Content
| "American Gigolo" stars Richard Gere of a high priced male prostitute. He is coasting along with his rich southern Cailifonia clients until one of them is murdered. When he is considered the main suspect, he goes on the run, with his only friend being the wife of a politician. At the begining he tells people that he is a moral man, for example, he dosn't service gays, more on that in a moment. It is interseting to note that Gere also played in a movie about hookers a decade later in "Pretty Woman" and it made a star out of Julia Roberts. But that is where the similarities end. This is a much darker story about hypocracy. When he falls under suspicion all his clients that liked him before all distance themselves from him. In the end, he finds himself a hypocrit, because in order to get an aliby he is willing to do anything job; gays, S and M, anything to avoid jail. The only love story here is about him and the politician's wife (Lauren Hutten). It is complicated by the fact that he will not let anyone in close to him, even for his own protection. For all it's darkness there is one funny scene. Richard Gere is called in for a line up at the police department. He tells the other men in the line up that he got paid, and the others get angry and cause a scene, averting the attention off of Gere. This is a really good movie as an examination of society's attitude toward sex. This film was written and directed by Paul Schrader, if that is why it seems like a less brutal companion to "Taxi Driver". Richard Gere is wooden, but his character is cold and icy, so that approach is right. Lauren Hutten is alright as the bored housewife of a powerful man; she seems sincere in wanting to help Gere. But I thought the standout performance was Bill Duke as the slezzy street pimp who is quiet but menacing (as oppose to Gere's 'Madam'), but also provides the warning to Gere at the beginning that his 15 minutes of fame are running out. And another future "Pretty Woman" player is present; Hector Elanzo. He plays the detective on Gere's trail; but he is slimy and rather unlikable here. Well worth your time, but for adults only. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 22, 2003 | | Summary | Here comes the 80's | Content
| 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. |
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