American Gigolo

In discussing why he took the role of the titular character in "American Gigolo," Richard Gere said, "There's kind of a gay thing that's flirting through it and I didn't know the gay community at all.  I wanted to immerse myself in all of that and I literally had two weeks.  So I just dove in."

That's one reason (among others) why gays should be offended by this movie.  Two weeks is hardly enough time to learn about a culture.  It's barely enough time to become a tourist.

And that's what "American Gigolo" feels like: tourism.  Writer-director Paul Schrader seems so shocked by things like gay bars, cuckolding, and gigolos that he thinks it's noteworthy to simply point out that they exist.  Likewise, Schrader feels the need to make cynical points that should be obvious, like the transactional nature of many relationships, or the hypocrisy of socialites and politicians.

Plenty of good movies have been made with a cynical veneer--you could describe most Coen brothers movies that way--but cynicism doesn't offer much substance.  You need style to make up for it.  And any pretensions to style that "Gigolo" might have are demolished by its awful storytelling.  The film's pacing is so terrible that it almost seems purposeful.  We get several minutes of Gere matching his ties with suit jackets, plus several extended scenes of him driving around.  Yet when the film finally reaches its denouement, it rushes through.  In about seven minutes, the plot is resolved with a series of short scenes distractingly cut up by fades to black.

Earlier this year, Schrader released "The Canyons," a sleazy (excuse me, "erotic") thriller starring Lindsay Lohan.  I was disappointed that he had stooped so low; he made the terrific "Affliction" only 14 years ago.  But now I see that he was on familiar ground.