Post by StevePulaski on Aug 20, 2014 22:05:52 GMT -5
Fading Gigolo (2013)
Directed by: John Turturro
Directed by: John Turturro
John Turturro and Woody Allen in Fading Gigolo.
Rating: ★★
John Turturro's Fading Gigolo is never funny enough to be considered a comedy but never believable enough to be considered a drama, which creates an awkward identity crisis for its material. Then there's Turturro's clearly confused idea about what he exactly wants to do with the film, whether it'd be turning the film into a comedy satirizing the lives of pimps and gigolos by having impish characters fill their shoes or a drama commenting on the desire to feel pleasure in the strangest of forms. Through several slow, droning scenes and the utilization of less-than-interesting characters, it's astounding to note how little Fading Gigolo does that's memorable in any of those regards.
Turturro (who also serves as the film's sole writer) plays Fioravante, who is good friends with an elderly bookstore owner named Murray (Woody Allen), who has just lost his store and is in need of serious money. Murray tells Fioravante that his wealthy dermatologist Dr. Parker (Sharon Stone) is looking to engage in a ménage à trois with her friend Selima (Sofía Vergara) and are in need of a male to accompany them. Murray tells Fioravante that he seems to be the perfect man for the job, to which he coldly shuns off but soon attends to the idea quite thoughtfully. Meanwhile, Fioravante and Murray toss around the idea of being a team comprised of an older gigolo and pimp, working as a team where one man has sex for money while the other collects the check. Both men are, in turn, satisfied, hopefully like their female clients.
A film that has Turturro as a gigolo and Allen as a pimp should've been contagiously funny, wry, cleverly irreverent, and smartly executed. Unfortunately, Fading Gigolo is dreary and slow, with conversations frequently taking place that do nothing but run dry, with Turturro failing to conjure up a screen personality and Allen, while clearly having fun, having a thoroughly wasted character. Allen's characters in films are known for their nervousness and their frantic obsessing of instances and daily occurrences, but Allen's character here has shockingly little wit and soul, never giving us any of the famous trademarks or creating a character worth carrying about. He's a sleazy old coot with little remarkable other than his ability to occasionally say something relevant and funny.
Even more questionable about the film is its cartoonish and bizarre treatment of Jewish people in this film, specifically the Hasidic side of Brooklyn, which is frequently poked fun at in the film, with several portrayals of their characters to be bumbling or just completely useless when talking about the film's narrative. The entire plot stems when Liev Schreiber's Dovi becomes suspicious of Murray's involvement with Avigail (Vanessa Paradis), who takes care of one of Murray's friend's kid's lice problem.
The idea here and the direction taken isn't that funny and, frankly, not that interesting. Once in a while, as a film critic, I stumble upon that film, and find it harder and harder to articulate precise reasons for these kinds of films that I find neither funny or interesting. Fading Gigolo fails to make any particularly noteworthy use of its obviously funny and ridiculous premise and lacks in the department of making its characters have any discernible personalities whatsoever. Turturro and Allen spark comedic charm once in a while, but the film is littered with distractions that make the film a challenge to recommend to anyone who isn't an Allen completionist, so tolerant, they'll sit through even a film he allegedly inspired.
Starring: John Turturro, Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, and Liev Schreiber. Directed by: John Turturro.