John Turturro does himself plenty of favors in Fading Gigolo which he wrote, directed, and stars in. Turturro plays a humble man named Fioravante whose job as a florist is hardly meeting ends meet. The same can be said for his longtime friend Murray (Woody Allen playing Woody Allen), whose bookstore is shutting down. While in Murray’s bookshop Murray tells Fioravante about an interesting proposal he got while visiting his dermatologist Dr. Parker (Sharon Stone). She and her friend Selima (Sofia Vergara) are unsatisfied with their current sex lives, and are looking for a mature gigolo to change all that for him. Murray throws the offer to the unsuspecting Fioravante, who is skeptical at first, but it’s hard to say no once he finds out how much the gig pays. Fioravante is born to please, becoming an instant hit with the ladies. Soon their business is blooming, and New York’s woman are theres for the taking.
Murray brings their business to his Jewish neighborhood, setting Fior up with a lonely Jewish widow named Avigal (Vanessa Paradis), who hasn’t been with a man ever since the death of her husband. Murray figures that spending some time with Fior would do her some good. Only their meetings end up being romantic, not sexual. Murray’s interactions with Avigal catch the suspicions of Dovi (Liev Schreiber), a Shomrim volunteer police officer who patrols the neighborhood.
If the concept of John Turturro as a male prostitute and Woody Allen as his pimp isn’t something you find funny, then Fading Gigolo most definitely isn’t for you. You have to suspend your belief a bit, but the ridiculousness of it all is a part of the fun. Turturro must have realized this when casting himself in the lead role. His Fior is a confident character but played with a dry, wooden dead-pan that would be a questionable sex figure. Allen is a ball of fun in the roll, thriving in what somehow ends up being a very Woody Allen roll. Screiber and Paradis both seemed miscast for their roles, decent enough on screen but never all that convincing. Stone and Vergara however, add some energy to the film in their limited minutes that was a well needed sexy ball of fire that a film about sex somehow lacked.
Turturro’s script does have some bright comedic moments, but it’s not enough to balance out the rest of the film which felt overly dry. He is a capable director, but it ended up feeling more like a debut rather than his 5th time behind the lens. It feels a decent Woody Allen film if anything, considering its love affair with it’s New York City location.
Fading Gigolo is safe and likable, and it has actually has some interesting insight into the concept of love. Only it doesn’t really push any boundaries, and isn’t funny enough aside from Allen. It seemed like they had fun making the movie, but that’s about it.
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