Gigoló americano

Okay-ish thriller-drama. Plot setup was good but it just seems to drift from a point. Ending is a bit trite and quite predictable. Surprising, as the movie is written-directed by Paul Schrader, who wrote Taxi Driver and Raging Bull for Martin Scorsese. Maybe he shouldn't direct... (though Affliction was great and Cat People was decent).

Performances are OK. This was Richard Gere's breakthrough role.

This is one of Richard Gere's first lead roles in Hollywood, and he doesn't disappoint. The film gives a little insight, a preview even, of the seamier side of the 1980's. Beginning with the shots of Julian Kaye's (Gere) Mercedes convertible, glimpses of Rodeo Drives and Malibu (all with Blondie screaming "Call Me"!), the film manages to be more than just a whodunit. Perhaps the charm of the film for me is that we're never quite sure what to think of Kaye and his married lover (Lauren Hutton), but their quest for happiness with each other is believable. And though the detective plot-line of the movie is a little contrived, Detective Sunday and Leon provide good opposite poles of this Sodom and Gommarah-like portrayal of life in L.A. In fact, Julian's verbal sparring with Detective Sunday provide a light contrast with the realistic portrayal of a gigolo on the run.

Richard Gere is perfectly cast in the role of decadent but vulnerable male gigolo cum prostitute who is framed for a murder he didn't commit. His emotional entanglement with a married woman (Lauren Hutton) is believable, but the film is above all a dissection of the emptiness of the kind of stylish materialism which was to become such a hallmark of cosmopolitan lifestyle in the 80's. Like many such morality tales, though, the superficial attractiveness of the 'style' as a way of life is liable to lead some to embrace rather than reject it as a way of bringing excitement into their lives. In any event, a stylish piece of cinema.

Fresh off his eye-opening 1979 effort Hardcore, writer/director Paul Schrader struck again in 1980 with American Gigolo. This is the story of a high-end male prostitute (Gere) named Julian Kaye. Julian caters to the every need of several well-to-do older women whose husbands either are unable or reluctant to satisfy them. Julian is good at what he does, and he knows it. But that's his problem. His subtle arrogance is beginning to rub others in his line of work the wrong way. After he is framed for the murder of a kinky wife, Julian finds that none of his associates will help him clear his name. Adding to his misfortune is the fact that in order to clear his name, he will have to reveal much of what he does, as well as the identities of some of his powerful clients to the police. Either way he's screwed. He either goes to jail for the murder, or he never enjoys his profitable career again. The only person who seems interested in helping him is a state senator's wife (Hutton) who has fallen for him.

The film is really not bad. Maybe better than it deserves to be. Much of the credit goes to Richard Gere. Say what you want about the man's odd behavior off screen, but as an actor he is always top drawer. He plays Julian as a smug, intelligent, and sexually ambiguous young man. The performance keeps you guessing as much as the screenplay. Lauren Hutton is very beautiful and plays her part with classic sensuality. This woman never did that much after this, but she gives a fine performance here. Hector Elizondo is on hand as a sleazy detective, and look out for Bill Duke in an early role as a homosexual hustler at odds with Gere.

As for the direction, Schrader does what he can, but he is much better as a writer than a director. There is nothing overly creative about how much of this film is shot. George C. Scott tried to convince Schrader to stick to writing while on the set of Hardcore. American Gigolo is a much better film, so maybe Schrader took those comments to heart and made himself better. Still, the man is just not quite the director you'd hope. Some of the scenes are just a little too stale, with only the actors to breath life into them. One downfall might also be the conclusion. The film just kind of ends without a lot resolved, and a tough choice made by a major character just isn't given the proper motivation you'd think it would need. That said, American Gigolo is not a bad film at all. It was better than I expected, and it is a nice time capsule from 1980 Los Angeles. Give it a try. 7 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

Giorgio Moroder's signature synths followed by Deborah Harry's instantly recognisable new wave classic, Call Me, opens up American Gigolo as we see a pretty suave 80s Richard Gere in a black Cadilliac driving along the beachside. Gere has all the trappings of a wealthy 80s lifestyle so usually romanticised in a Bruckheimer production but the film establishes in its first few scenes that Gere is pretty much a buck for hire with little sway over his Aryan madam. This form of bait and switch appears throughout the movie, with Gere appearing in control and pretty cool at first and then as a total whore. The dichotomy between these two personas plays a big part of the film's plot as Julian K., Gere, becomes entangled in a murder investigation of a trick who is the wife to a wealthy S&M aficionado and learns that he should question the many friendships he's procured during his career as a loverboy. Lauren Hutton plays a random woman that Gere meets and develops into the film's love interest after one of the most minimalist sex scenes in an 80s film. The set production, music, acting and story is all very connotative of the eighties. Apartments are gray or salmon coloured with minimalist artwork and expensive vases and silver blocky stereo systems - it's clear with some scenes, including one where Gere hangs upside down to do some crunches, that the set design heavily influenced the mise-en-scene of Mary Harron's adaptation of American Psycho. Moroder's various compositions of Blondie's Call Me highlight the continuing descent of Julian k. as the chorus becomes more melancholic and ominous - it's all very suspenseful from an eighties perspective. Some may find the final scenes slightly ridiculous and most likely unrealistic, but one should remember that American Gigolo was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and even on the tail end of New Hollywood, the film does show caution in its dark themes as not to alienate mainstream audiences. I definitely felt the material was pretty subdued for a film written and directed by Taxi Driver's Paul Schrader. However, it doesn't matter as the film is effective as a time capsule of the seedier side of the eighties.