Despite having written some of Hollywood's most engaging films (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Cat People), Paul Schrader now takes the director's seat for 1980's drama, "American Gigolo". The film is a slow (very slow at times) paced drama about a young "scort service" man played by a very young Richard Gere, who gets framed in the brutal murder of one of his ex clients and wife to a Palm Springs millionaire.
The life of Julian Kay (Richard Gere) is simple: he gives satisfaction to L.A's lonely and rich Hollywood wives while being handsomely paid for it. From the start, I assume something will eventually go wrong. Julian always keeps a distance from his customers by never getting "too involved" in any way with them. One day he gets a call from an old "friend" who begs him to take a job in Palm Springs; a rich couple into kinky and rough sex, with the husband on the peeping Tom side. The husband asks Julian to handcuff his wife and take her from behind and beat her, to which I assume Julian reluctantly obliges before the scene fades out. Soon after it's all over the news that the kinky wife is found murdered and Julian becomes the prime suspect. All this happens as Julian slowly develops a relationship with his new client, Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton), the wife of an up and rising politician. Michelle begins to fall in love with Julian, and he struggles to avoid falling in love too with her.
"American Gigolo" has a lot going for it, starting with the rousing Blondie hit, "Call Me", which remains as the musical theme throughout the movie. What kills this movie is its decidedly slow pace and bland acting from the young Gere. We know he is a lonely man, doing what does best to get by, but not necessarily liking all of it. When he gets framed for murder, little do we know the reasons behind it and little explanation is given to the audience. The reasons behind Julian's friend Leon (William Duke, from "Predator"), turning on him are really never addressed, except that he was "frameable", which isn't saying much. All we know is that Mrs. Stratton's husband is behind the framing, which is weird, coming from a man who knows before hand his wife cheats on him and doesn't seem to care (on the outside).
With all the Hollywood reboots and rehashes going on today, a film like this one could easily be improved upon, perhaps making Julian's past (which we know little from other characters) a bit darker. With "Gigolo" in its title, you'd expect more sex and even by 1980's standards, the sex is pretty restrained.
All in all, "American Gigolo" will be best remembered as an early Richard Gere vehicle and the film that featured Blondie's last, enduring hit single, "Call Me".
The life of Julian Kay (Richard Gere) is simple: he gives satisfaction to L.A's lonely and rich Hollywood wives while being handsomely paid for it. From the start, I assume something will eventually go wrong. Julian always keeps a distance from his customers by never getting "too involved" in any way with them. One day he gets a call from an old "friend" who begs him to take a job in Palm Springs; a rich couple into kinky and rough sex, with the husband on the peeping Tom side. The husband asks Julian to handcuff his wife and take her from behind and beat her, to which I assume Julian reluctantly obliges before the scene fades out. Soon after it's all over the news that the kinky wife is found murdered and Julian becomes the prime suspect. All this happens as Julian slowly develops a relationship with his new client, Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton), the wife of an up and rising politician. Michelle begins to fall in love with Julian, and he struggles to avoid falling in love too with her.
"American Gigolo" has a lot going for it, starting with the rousing Blondie hit, "Call Me", which remains as the musical theme throughout the movie. What kills this movie is its decidedly slow pace and bland acting from the young Gere. We know he is a lonely man, doing what does best to get by, but not necessarily liking all of it. When he gets framed for murder, little do we know the reasons behind it and little explanation is given to the audience. The reasons behind Julian's friend Leon (William Duke, from "Predator"), turning on him are really never addressed, except that he was "frameable", which isn't saying much. All we know is that Mrs. Stratton's husband is behind the framing, which is weird, coming from a man who knows before hand his wife cheats on him and doesn't seem to care (on the outside).
With all the Hollywood reboots and rehashes going on today, a film like this one could easily be improved upon, perhaps making Julian's past (which we know little from other characters) a bit darker. With "Gigolo" in its title, you'd expect more sex and even by 1980's standards, the sex is pretty restrained.
All in all, "American Gigolo" will be best remembered as an early Richard Gere vehicle and the film that featured Blondie's last, enduring hit single, "Call Me".