the fresh films reviews

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American Gigolo (1980)

Director:
Paul Schrader
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Crime/Drama
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Den amerikanske gigolo
RUNNING TIME
117 minutes
Producer:
Jerry Bruckheimer
Screenwriter:
Paul Schrader


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Julian Kaye Richard Gere
Michelle Stratton Lauren Hutton ½
Detective Joe Sunday Hector Elizondo ½
Leon James Bill Duke ½
Anne Nina van Pallandt ½
Mrs. Laudner Frances Bergen
Mrs. Sloan Carol Bruce
Lisa Williams K Callan
Lieutenant Curtis David Cryer
Mr. Williams Richard Derr

 

Review

An impertinently sexy Richard Gere slides his way through the first part of this chic, smooth half-baked erotica/crime film by Paul Schrader. The film was groundbreaking in its own right, largely thanks to the objectifying of the title character, something Gere incidentally is fully comfortable with and revels in. But the novelty of Schrader's motifs wears off and he hasn't got any creative direction to take his film in, other than into very familiar and ultimately cheesy crime and romance territory. Julian Kay turns out to be every bit as feeble and unable to tackle his own existence as any other female counterpart would have been. That may be Schrader's point, but it feels counter-productive, bordering on sexist towards both genders. That being said, Richard Gere actually plays here, it's probably one of his best ever performances. Look for Hector Elizondo, who steals every scene he's in as an arrogant detective. The score is by Giorgio Moroder and shares a quality with the film itself: it's stylish, but repetitive.

Copyright © 13.08.2019 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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