Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      A French Gigolo

      2008 1h 42m Comedy Drama Romance List
      Reviews 41% Audience Score 500+ Ratings Afraid of commitment in the wake of her failed marriage, popular home-shopping network personality Judith (Nathalie Baye) turns to a local escort service to meet her needs. But, after she hires the disarming Marco (Éric Caravaca) -- an unemployed house-painter -- as her newest hourly companion, she falls for him in spite of herself. When Marco's wife, Fanny (Isabelle Carré), finds out he's been moonlighting as a gigolo to make ends meet, Judith struggles to maintain their relationship. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

      View All (2) Critics Reviews
      David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a lamentably misguided piece of work... Rated: 1.5/4 Dec 9, 2011 Full Review Joseph Proimakis Movies for the Masses Me sygkratimenes ysteries kai kresento demena me empeiria kai sobarotita, i Balasko pantreyei tin galliki mpalafara tis me ena periergo misopsimeno kai misomasimeno koinoniko endiaferon poy se paei me skampanebasmata toy rythmoy kai ton synaisthimaton, me Rated: 2/5 Jul 2, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

      View All (60) audience reviews
      Audience Member so so french comedy/farse about the bitterweet life of a male ho. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A French Gigolo is considered to be a Drama that does provide some comedic relief. This film is packed with emotional situations and very complex characters that give the film an interesting storyline. The director of this film is Josiane Balasko, who also plays one of the characters in the film. Josiane is a well known film director and has been involved with over 5 films. She also has had 4 award wins and 6 nominations for her films. She involves her family life with many of her productions, and also lets her family play roles in her films to make sure that a close family bond remains, while she is hard at work. I enjoyed this film because it had an interesting storyline and the characters were emotionally connected to their roles, which made for an interesting and compelling thrill. The main character in the film engulfed herself in the role of a lonely middle aged women who was looking for true happiness, and I completely bought her story. Judith who is played by Nathalie Baye is an older women in her 30â(TM)s who is suffering from emotional stress of a divorce, when she finds Marco, the French gigolo, who she uses to solve her depression and loneliness. Her relationship with Marco grows from a client to an emotionally attached affair, which in the end breaks off because Marco does not truly love her. Marco who is played by Eric Caravaca is a male who leads two different lifestyles. By day he is a husband and a caretaker for his family, and for his wifes family for whom he lives with. By night he is a male escort who sells his body and time for money to older and richer women. He decides to resign from the business after meeting Judith because of the emotional attachment that became from their relationship. Marco realizes that he is not a male escort at heart, but a truly caring man who only was trying to take good care of his family. The over voices that are heard by the audience from Judith and Marco are slightly distracting to the storyline and also add a melodramatic effect where it is not needed. The story might be better liked if only Marco had voice overs, so that only one side of the story was shared. The momentum of the film does slow down significantly in the final act of the movie, and may have contributed to viewers lose of interest. The length of the movie could have been shorter is scenes which were not nessacery were deleted. One idea that is present in the film is that money does not make people happy. This is shown when the lady is left alone at the end of the film with no one, and it shows that she canâ(TM)t buy her happiness. Another idea is that love does not come easy. This is shown between Marco and his wife. A lot of people think that marriage is easy, but it takes work to make a successful marriage. The idea that money does not make people happy and that marriage is complicated is also present in the film of the birdcage from this section of films for class. In the birdcage, whether it is same sex marriage or a marriage of strict rules and regulations of the daughters parents, marriage always presents an obstacle. Pretty women most closely matches the film A French Gigolo. The similarities between the two are that the main characters share the same profession, and that there is a struggle in finding out what emotions are felt between the two individuals. The differences between these two movies are that pretty women ends happily while a French gigolo does not. I would recommend A French gigolo because it is an emotional drama which shows how the French think of the idea of prostitution as a job. I think that most Americans would find it interesting to see how other cultures think of the same jobs that we have here in America in a different light. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Not a credible story at all, but funny enough to make it really enjoyable. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member I thought this movie was funny and surprisingly thoughtful. I found it striking that there are no bad persons in this flick, only real reactions to unusual situations. It would have been easier to vilify Marco or Judith, but the movie artfully avoids that and becomes infinitely more interesting. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member v real. u love sby., but cant love that kind of life attached Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Okay, I should have known my streak of good foreign films was going to run out eventually. All the warning signs were there too. A french woman who's horny for a lay in the hay with a male prostitute who's married. These are the kind of foreign movies I saw growing up which I never cared for at all. Everybody's always having sex with what seems like not a care in the world for ramifications of said actions. These movies are always the same, some older woman is looking for a little something either on the side (because her husband is just not doing it for her anymore) or in this case because she's rich and doesn't want a commitment (?) I almost shut this movie off a few times but I was hoping it was going to surprise me but I should have known! Utterly a waste of my time and yours if you watch this drivel. Definitely not up to the standard of foreign movies today. You have been warned! Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      Photos

      View All A French Gigolo photos

      A French Gigolo

      A French Gigolo (2008) A French Gigolo (2008) A French Gigolo (2008) A French Gigolo (2008) View more photos

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Afraid of commitment in the wake of her failed marriage, popular home-shopping network personality Judith (Nathalie Baye) turns to a local escort service to meet her needs. But, after she hires the disarming Marco (Éric Caravaca) -- an unemployed house-painter -- as her newest hourly companion, she falls for him in spite of herself. When Marco's wife, Fanny (Isabelle Carré), finds out he's been moonlighting as a gigolo to make ends meet, Judith struggles to maintain their relationship.
      Director
      Josiane Balasko
      Screenwriter
      Josiane Balasko
      Genre
      Comedy, Drama, Romance
      Original Language
      French (Canada)
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Nov 18, 2016
      Runtime
      1h 42m
      Most Popular at Home Now