Fading Gigolo
 | |
| Directed by | John Turturro |
| Produced by | Bill Block Paul Hanson Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte |
| Written by | John Turturro |
Starring | John Turturro Woody Allen Sharon Stone Sofia Vergara Vanessa Paradis Liev Schreiber |
| Music by | Abraham Laboriel Bill Maxwell |
| Cinematography | Marco Pontecorvo |
| Editing by | Simona Paggi |
| Studio | Antidote Films |
| Distributed by | Millennium Entertainment[1] |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3,866,795[2] |
Fading Gigolo is a film directed, written by and starring John Turturro, co-starring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, and Liev Schreiber.
It was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
Fading Gigolo received a limited release in the United States on April 18, 2014.[4]
Cast[edit]
- John Turturro as Fioravante
- Woody Allen as Murray
- Sharon Stone as Dr. Parker
- Sofía Vergara as Selima
- Vanessa Paradis as Avigal
- Liev Schreiber as Dovi
- Max Casella as Guy at Counter
- Aida Turturro as Driver's wife
- Bob Balaban as Sol
- Michael Badalucco as Burly Driver
- David Margulies as Chief Rebbe
- Aurélie Claudel as Tai Chi woman
- Loan Chabanol as Loan
Fading Gigolo received mixed reviews.
On film aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 55% rating, with an average score of 5.7/10, based on reviews from 31 critics.
The site's consensus states:
"Admittedly vulgar and ludicrous, Fading Gigolo gets a surprising amount of mileage out of the entertaining chemistry between its starring duo.".
On another website, Metacritic, it has a 55/100 score (indicating "mixed or average"), based on reviews from 18 critics.[6]
References[edit]
- Jump up ^ Fleming, Mike (2013-09-09). "Toronto: 'Fading Gigolo' Sells For $3 Million To Millennium Entertainment". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
- Jump up ^ "Fading Gigolo (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
- Jump up ^ "Fading Gigolo". TIFF. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
- Jump up ^ McDaniel, Matt (January 8, 2014). "Sharon Stone Cozies Up With Sofia Vergara in ‘Fading Gigolo’ Trailer Premiere". Yahoo!. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
- Jump up ^ "Fading Gigolo (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- Jump up ^ "Fading Gigolo". Metacritic. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
External links[edit]
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In an Uneven Economy, an Opening in the Service Sector Beckons
John Turturro Stars in ‘Fading Gigolo’
The title character in “Fading Gigolo,” a low-key, low-energy comedy about New York haves and have-nots, is Fioravante, a melancholic bookstore employee played by the film’s director, John Turturro.
When you first meet Fioravante, he’s packing up boxes, on the verge of becoming an ex-bookstore employee.
His boss, Murray (Woody Allen), has been forced to shutter his charming shop, a painful and all-too-frequent occurrence in the real New York.
In a moment of inspiration, or really creative contrivance, Murray suggests — ta-da — that Fioravante take up hooking.
When you first meet Fioravante, he’s packing up boxes, on the verge of becoming an ex-bookstore employee.
His boss, Murray (Woody Allen), has been forced to shutter his charming shop, a painful and all-too-frequent occurrence in the real New York.
In a moment of inspiration, or really creative contrivance, Murray suggests — ta-da — that Fioravante take up hooking.
Murray doesn’t actually say those words, or not that I remember, and neither does anyone throw around any of the other, cruder descriptors that often come into play when someone has sex for money.
Murray lands on this idea after learning from his dermatologist, Dr. Parker (Sharon Stone), that she and a friend, Selima (Sofia Vergara), want to have a ménage à trois (not with Murray).
Murray lands on this idea after learning from his dermatologist, Dr. Parker (Sharon Stone), that she and a friend, Selima (Sofia Vergara), want to have a ménage à trois (not with Murray).
Sizing up Fioravante like a prime cut, Murray decides that his friend is the prostitute for the job.
Fioravante shrugs off the idea, only to succumb, because, well, that is how he’s written.
At this point, you may already be exhausted by Turturro’s frontloading this small vessel with so much leaden whimsy.
Fioravante shrugs off the idea, only to succumb, because, well, that is how he’s written.
At this point, you may already be exhausted by Turturro’s frontloading this small vessel with so much leaden whimsy.
It gets better gradually, largely because of the appealing performers, including the amusingly frenetic Allen, who enlivens his every scene, and Liev Schreiber, who plays a hunky Hasidic neighborhood cop, Dovi, who has his eye on a rabbi’s fetching widow, Avigal (Vanessa Paradis).
Avigal comes into the picture, and soon into Fioravante’s life, with the strained romanticism that defines Turturro’s approach.
Murray meets Avigal when he takes his live-in black partner’s children to her to be deloused.
Before you know it, all the children — African-American and Hasidic — are playing ball with Murray, and Fioravante is meeting the nominally repressed, hot Yiddishe momme.
It’s a small, idealistic world, after all, heartfelt and unpersuasive.
Avigal comes into the picture, and soon into Fioravante’s life, with the strained romanticism that defines Turturro’s approach.
Murray meets Avigal when he takes his live-in black partner’s children to her to be deloused.
Before you know it, all the children — African-American and Hasidic — are playing ball with Murray, and Fioravante is meeting the nominally repressed, hot Yiddishe momme.
It’s a small, idealistic world, after all, heartfelt and unpersuasive.
The influence of Spike Lee, with whom Turturro has worked repeatedly, shows up early in “Fading Gigolo,” notably in the way streets transform into stages on which the diverse characters act out their comedies and dramas.
This idea works better in the more intimate scenes, say, of just two people walking and talking, rather than in the busier, more populated scenes that reach for the panoramic.
This idea works better in the more intimate scenes, say, of just two people walking and talking, rather than in the busier, more populated scenes that reach for the panoramic.
Turturro’s penchant for layering his scenes in music also suggests Lee’s influence.
Yet while Lee uses music for heightened emotion, ironic counterpoint and political commentary, Turturro’s musical choices in “Fading Gigolo” tend to feel, like so much here, generically applied instead of meaningfully coaxed from some essential, lived-in truth.
Yet while Lee uses music for heightened emotion, ironic counterpoint and political commentary, Turturro’s musical choices in “Fading Gigolo” tend to feel, like so much here, generically applied instead of meaningfully coaxed from some essential, lived-in truth.
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