Fading Gigolo

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alan g Confusing and bad plot. Ultimately a forgettable and crappy movie. B and C list actors and a very unfunny Woody Allen. All the women are beautiful but stiff. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/29/25 Full Review Alfred B "Fading Gigolo" (2013) is a prime example of a film that markets itself as a quirky, heartfelt comedy about human connection but is, in fact, a deeply confused and morally bankrupt production. It feels like a project conceived in a closed-off, insulated bubble, where the creators have lost the ability to distinguish between genuine art and something that is, at its core, little more than street solicitation. The film takes a preposterous premise—a struggling bookseller (Woody Allen) convincing his friend, a quiet florist (John Turturro), to become a gigolo—and then proceeds to handle it with a mix of timid voyeurism and bizarre, anemic storytelling. For a film about sexual relationships, it is devoid of genuine sensuality or emotional honesty, offering only a sterile and antiseptic vision of desire. Sexually Repressed and Deviant in its Depiction The film's most striking failure is its handling of sex. It is a sexually repressed production that treats the act of physical intimacy as either a clinical transaction or a kind of spiritual awakening, never as a natural part of human life. The female characters—played by accomplished actresses like Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara—are reduced to little more than frustrated archetypes who are supposedly so desperate for intimacy that they would pay a man who, by all accounts, is a passive and uncharismatic presence. The film seems to believe that simply alluding to sex is enough to make it interesting, but it's not. The result is a deviant production that perverts the idea of human connection into a commercial transaction, with the women's desires and loneliness on display for the viewer's consumption, all while the protagonist remains a blank slate. The most "intimate" scene—a back massage—is the film's highest point of physical contact, a prudish and bizarre choice that speaks to the film's deep-seated discomfort with its own premise. The Confusion of Art and Street Criminality "Fading Gigolo" is a film that is fundamentally confused about the difference between art and street solicitation. It tries to elevate the business of male prostitution into a noble and even "artistic" pursuit, a form of "healing" for lonely women. The protagonist is not a street criminal or even a hustler; he's a "fading gigolo" who is inexplicably wise and sensitive, dispensing emotional comfort to his clients for a fee. This is not a nuanced look at the complexities of the world's oldest profession; it is a fantastical and deeply irresponsible whitewashing of it. The film's lighthearted tone completely ignores the very real dangers, exploitation, and emotional toll that such a life entails, reducing a grim reality to a whimsical romantic comedy. The narrative treats the protagonists' illegal activity as a charming side hustle, a quirky way to make ends meet, which is a dangerous and insulting idea to anyone who understands the world of street crime. The film is a disingenuous attempt to make a crude reality palatable, and the only people who would be confused are those who can't distinguish between this cinematic fantasy and the grim realities it purports to depict. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/24/25 Full Review helder f This is a nice story that probably was stretched too thin. It seems that this could easily be a short movie or definitely a shorter movie. It has moments of great dialogue and very balanced performances but it overall falls flat. The characters are not very well developed, and they are probably not very memorable either. Allen’s character is probably more salient, but that might be because Allen plays a bit of his usually neurotic characters. The novelty is that he is gigolo. Torturro’s character is really not very well developed. And frankly not very convincing or interesting… The idea that they were having hot sex is just an idea… there’s little to nothing hot going on in this movie. Everything is measured and balanced, but not very enticing. Words above actions but words can only go so far Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/16/24 Full Review serge e This movie is really funny, and works thanks to great performances and a brilliant chemistry between its leads. I loved it :D Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member #WoodyAllenRetro Podcast Project Woody joins veteran actor John Turturro in a strange dramatic rom-com which has a interesting and fun concept INITIALLY only to muddle it's story with conflicting tones and ideas that would have done better not to be so cobbled together in what feels like a random blend of unused characters and undeveloped ideas. Ultimately it feels like Turturro is drawing from some place of personal experience in these themes, some specifically drawing on the jewish community seem blatantly deliberate in execution but overall this screenplay is a disappointing mess that never comes together - it's obvious the basic human connection for unloved or disillusioned women was the ultimate takeaway but the execution was done quite badly - Woody himself could have tackled the material in a much more extravagant and elegant way but he seems to be here just to blow off some steam and be silly like he has in his other stand in movies ala picking up the pieces or scenes from a mall Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Great comedy, I would say it is a master piece of the modern comedy. Fresh, irreverent, elegant and an amazing cast selection. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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