Rating: 
Summary: Darkly comic thriller from Paul Schrader
Review: "American Gigolo" is high on my list of Guilty Pleasures. This 1980 thriller wallows in the troubles of the rich, the infamous and the decadent. Its main characters have too much money, which can be a good thing, and too much time on their hands, which can be a very bad thing. There is a sort of perverse pleasure in watching them sort through their various problems, most of which are indirectly of their own making. Writer-director Paul Schrader has always cast a cynical eye on human endeavors. Sometimes, his insights have been absolutely brilliant. [He wrote both " Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull".] But even when he is playing around, as in "American Gigolo", he creates for us an interesting world, which can also be repellant because we see a certain amount of truth in his characterizations. Richard Gere is Julian Kaye, a very well paid [and apparently well educated] LA hustler. His specialty is wealthy, older women. Arrogant and self-assured, he has made his share of enemies in his shadowy world, especially among his pimps. Things get complicated for him when he falls for Michelle Stratton [Lauren Hutton], wife of a prominent political figure. But far worse is in store for him after a client is murdered and Julian becomes the number one suspect. Giorgio Moroder contributes a lively musical score - very 80s. John Bailey's cinematography is first-rate. He captures the vanity and vulnerability of Julian right from the opening shots, for example. This is one of those movies that has more detractors than admirers. To me, it is wildly entertaining in a dark comedy way. Its one big fault is a contrived happy ending, which is diametrically opposed to the tone of the rest of the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: American Nightmare
Review: "American Gigolo" stars Richard Gere of a high priced male prostitute. He is coasting along with his rich southern Cailifonia clients until one of them is murdered. When he is considered the main suspect, he goes on the run, with his only friend being the wife of a politician. At the begining he tells people that he is a moral man, for example, he dosn't service gays, more on that in a moment. It is interseting to note that Gere also played in a movie about hookers a decade later in "Pretty Woman" and it made a star out of Julia Roberts. But that is where the similarities end. This is a much darker story about hypocracy. When he falls under suspicion all his clients that liked him before all distance themselves from him. In the end, he finds himself a hypocrit, because in order to get an aliby he is willing to do anything job; gays, S and M, anything to avoid jail. The only love story here is about him and the politician's wife (Lauren Hutten). It is complicated by the fact that he will not let anyone in close to him, even for his own protection. For all it's darkness there is one funny scene. Richard Gere is called in for a line up at the police department. He tells the other men in the line up that he got paid, and the others get angry and cause a scene, averting the attention off of Gere. This is a really good movie as an examination of society's attitude toward sex. This film was written and directed by Paul Schrader, if that is why it seems like a less brutal companion to "Taxi Driver". Richard Gere is wooden, but his character is cold and icy, so that approach is right. Lauren Hutten is alright as the bored housewife of a powerful man; she seems sincere in wanting to help Gere. But I thought the standout performance was Bill Duke as the slezzy street pimp who is quiet but menacing (as oppose to Gere's 'Madam'), but also provides the warning to Gere at the beginning that his 15 minutes of fame are running out. And another future "Pretty Woman" player is present; Hector Elanzo. He plays the detective on Gere's trail; but he is slimy and rather unlikable here. Well worth your time, but for adults only.
Rating:
Summary: American Nightmare
Review: "American Gigolo" stars Richard Gere of a high priced male prostitute. He is coasting along with his rich southern Cailifonia clients until one of them is murdered. When he is considered the main suspect, he goes on the run, with his only friend being the wife of a politician. At the begining he tells people that he is a moral man, for example, he dosn't service gays, more on that in a moment. It is interseting to note that Gere also played in a movie about hookers a decade later in "Pretty Woman" and it made a star out of Julia Roberts. But that is where the similarities end. This is a much darker story about hypocracy. When he falls under suspicion all his clients that liked him before all distance themselves from him. In the end, he finds himself a hypocrit, because in order to get an aliby he is willing to do anything job; gays, S and M, anything to avoid jail. The only love story here is about him and the politician's wife (Lauren Hutten). It is complicated by the fact that he will not let anyone in close to him, even for his own protection. For all it's darkness there is one funny scene. Richard Gere is called in for a line up at the police department. He tells the other men in the line up that he got paid, and the others get angry and cause a scene, averting the attention off of Gere. This is a really good movie as an examination of society's attitude toward sex. This film was written and directed by Paul Schrader, if that is why it seems like a less brutal companion to "Taxi Driver". Richard Gere is wooden, but his character is cold and icy, so that approach is right. Lauren Hutten is alright as the bored housewife of a powerful man; she seems sincere in wanting to help Gere. But I thought the standout performance was Bill Duke as the slezzy street pimp who is quiet but menacing (as oppose to Gere's 'Madam'), but also provides the warning to Gere at the beginning that his 15 minutes of fame are running out. And another future "Pretty Woman" player is present; Hector Elanzo. He plays the detective on Gere's trail; but he is slimy and rather unlikable here. Well worth your time, but for adults only.
Rating: 
Summary: A film to drool by
Review: American Gigolo I felt started the trend of sexy "chick" flim. Richard Gere's performance as a overachieving stud living in "fast lane" LA has semi-hardcore appeal; with a touch a soft eroctia blended nicely into the mix. Lauren Hutton's role as a rich woman looking for fun didn't appeal to me that much since I felt her character did not help along with the plot.
Rating:
Summary: Emotionless film effectively shows pitfalls of materialsim
Review: American Gigolo is one of my favorite films and yet it is really not one of the greatest films that you might encounter. Shot in rich tones, particularly blues and greys, the director, Paul Schrader, wants us to know that we are not going to be afforded the opportunity to get to know the characters too well. One might be able to argue that American Gigolo was one of the films that literally catapulted the movie going public into the 1980's mindset of materialism.
Richard Gere in one of his earliest films, protrays straight male call boy, Julian, who is tops in his game. Julian is gorgeous and knows many gorgeous women. He sleeps with those who will pay him. He doesn't bother with those who won't. Julian's lifestyle is one of everything "is a means to an end". He is interested in beautiful clothing and looking good, but because it helps him get something that he wants. He enjoys artwork and stylish digs, but not because he loves them, but because they are status symbols for his success. Julian enjoys being a gigolo because he is the best there is. He wouldn't (and doesn't) enjoy it when it isn't on his terms. For someone like me who feels he is too in tune with his emotions, Gere's Julian is cool, calculating and enviable. He goes about life without a care for anyone but himself.
When Julian meets Lauren Hutton, he is actually smitten with her. This is evidenced by the meeting taking place in a bar with deep reds and comfortable upholstered booths instead of the abounding greys, blues, and steel evidenced elsewhere in the film.
When Julian finally becomes intimate with Hutton and allows his emotional wall down for a moment, Schrader pulls us in close, but just afterward he lets us see that Julian can't maintain such intimacy and the camera pulls back for a long shot of him as he gets out of the bed leaving Lauren Hutton alone in the bed.
The story is secondary to the style of the film. It is a thriller, but not an exciting one. The music of Georgio Moroder and Blondie complement the film and give it even more atmosphere. It needs it because the films two false endings drag this picture out longer than needed in trying to show us how emotional involvement can change someone. The message should be left that a lack of emotion can be dangerous.
I rewatch this film every so often. It's a guilty pleasure watching the opening of the film with Julian driving down the PCH in his 450SL. Or when he's laying out different Armani outfits determining which to put on. Or looking at paintings, never deciding where he will hang them.
Rating:
Summary: The Power of Surfaces
Review: American Gigolo is probably writer-director Paul Schrader's most memorable film. Richard Gere is perhaps too well cast as a strutting, smug hustler brought low by his egotism and blindness to the reality of his life. The love story "redemption" centering around Lauren Hutton is pure front-office placation. The real subject of the film is exactly the sexy surfaces the story somewhat hypocritically pretends (but not too strongly) to condemn. In fact, the film's most memorable sequences are both dedicated to hard-edged commodity glitter and have nothing to do with the love story. In the opening credits, Gere shops on Rodeo Drive then drives down Pacific Coast Highway. Deborah Harry loudly sings out to "Call Me" in the background, Gere smirks in the sunny breezes behind the wheel of his 450SL, while the camera lovingly caresses the bumpers and hub caps. In the famous dressing scene, Gere throws one exquisite jacket, shirt and tie after another on to his bed as he ponders the most effective combination. Both scenes are wonderful evocations of svelte narcissism, cheeky self-satisfaction made into an art. To achieve these surfaces, Schrader owes a deep debt to cinematographer John Bailey, fashion designer Giorgio Armani and especially "visual consultant" (production designer) Ferdinando Scarfiotti, who is probably chiefly responsible for the film's famous "European" look. It also doesn't hurt that the story is almost exclusively limited to the sleeker parts of LA and Southern California-Beverly Hills, Westwood, Malibu, a side trip to Palm Springs, with a touch of Hollywood grunge thrown in for some kicks and kink. It all adds up to a creamy, pastel-tinged vision of LA as a show-biz Riviera, where class and style don't come from centuries of breeding, but can be purchased for the price of a designer shirt. It is not too much of an exaggeration to suggest that the unsympathetic, vacant characters and ludicrous plotting are there to wear the clothes. Intentionally or otherwise, that hits at a truth about LA that makes the film stay in the memory (particularly since life in the city has changed little since it was made). It's not just the combination of the sleazy and the silky, the cooled-out camerawork gazing alternately at rot and luxury, but the film's realization that in LA, "How much?" is not just the beginning of a financial transaction, but the only question of value people understand.
Rating:
Summary: A flash back to the early 80's.
Review: As would FLASHDANCE, AMERICAN GIGOLO helped to set the tone for the nascent 80's, though not to the extent that the former movie ultimately would.Nevertheless, as we watch, we see that emerging decade called the 80's unfold. Clearly disco was on the way out and new wave was on the way in, as evidenced by the soundtrack and fashions of this film. Also, you will see portents of the Miami Vice look that would become all the rage five years later.AG probably represented the last bastion of promiscuity and homosexual activity that flourished free of the threat of AIDS. The disease, if it did exist in that day in age, was probably so obscure that it wasn't even discussed even among those in the medical community.AG is the story of Julian Kaye, played by a painfully young-looking Richard Gere, a high-priced male prostitute who services the older, wealthier women of Beverly Hills. Handsome, well-paid, sophisticated, and intelligent -- he is conversant in several languages -- he seems to live an enviable life of privilege and ease.He remains emotionally unattached to the women he comes in contact with until he catches the eye of a cool blonde named Michelle, played by Lauren Hutton. She appears to be his equal in every way, but there is a cloud of mystery that surrounds her that Julian can't quite fathom. They part, and he doesn't expect to see her again until she unexpectedly shows up at his apartment. They spend the night together and come to the conclusion that they are in love.Julian discovers Michelle is the wife of a prominent Senator shortly after he's asked to fill in for a fellow prostitute's gig. The assignment is to pleasure the wife of a million-dollar businessman. To Julian's horror, he reads of this woman's murder a few days later in the paper. His pampered existence is tainted by this tragedy. As his and Michelle's clandestine love flourishes, he realizes that he's being framed for a murder he didn't commit. Who is doing this to him and why are reasons he can't figure out. In vain he tries to obtain an alibi from friends and acquaintances, only to have them withhold help. Then one is promised to him by Leon, a fellow prosititute, but he has his own reasons for vacillating which come to light later in the film. Michelle wants desperately to help him, but she has everything to lose and absolutely nothing to gain by providing an alibi.The plot takes a few twists and turns as the film comes to its surprising conclusion, but one thing that's never made clear, or perhaps I wasn't paying attention, is where exactly Julian was on the night of the murder. It's obvious that he's innocent, but where was he? He may have spent all or part of that night with the wealthy woman who, along with her husband, repudiates him, but I'm still not sure.
Rating:
Summary: Cult Classic
Review: Few movies define a generation or trend like "American Gigolo". Movies such as "Saturday Night Fever" and "Rocky" defined for the young male viewer a benchmark to aim for in one's coming of age. "Saturday Night Fever" somewhat laid out a sense of cool and "Rocky" a triumph for the underdog. What does "American Gigolo' provide? From the get go, the thundering Giorgio Moroder centered soundtrack set the stage for what was to be an not so ordinary film. The car, the clothes and the music (not to mention Gere, Hutton and the wicked supporting cast) make the movie. Gere and Hutton provide a tension in the film that is not given its due. The car, the clothes, the strut filled a void left by "Saturday Night Fever". The movie even asked a few deep questions here and there. I return to "American Gigolo" every now and then and it is a different experience everytime. It might not be "A Clockwork Orange" and it can stand accused for valorizing what can really be a seedy profession. Nonetheless, it is the stuff of Hollywood at its best for its time. Julia Roberts may have replaced Lauren Hutton as the Gere love interest but Richard Gere will forever be the "American Gigolo". Miguel Llora
Rating:
Summary: Cult Classic
Review: Few movies define a generation or trend like "American Gigolo". Movies such as "Saturday Night Fever" and "Rocky" defined for the young male viewer a benchmark to aim for in one's coming of age. "Saturday Night Fever" somewhat laid out a sense of cool and "Rocky" a triumph for the underdog. What does "American Gigolo' provide? From the get go, the thundering Giorgio Moroder centered soundtrack set the stage for what was to be an not so ordinary film. The car, the clothes and the music (not to mention Gere, Hutton and the wicked supporting cast) make the movie. Gere and Hutton provide a tension in the film that is not given its due. The car, the clothes, the strut filled a void left by "Saturday Night Fever". The movie even asked a few deep questions here and there. I return to "American Gigolo" every now and then and it is a different experience everytime. It might not be "A Clockwork Orange" and it can stand accused for valorizing what can really be a seedy profession. Nonetheless, it is the stuff of Hollywood at its best for its time. Julia Roberts may have replaced Lauren Hutton as the Gere love interest but Richard Gere will forever be the "American Gigolo". Miguel Llora
Rating:
Summary: Hot Hot Hot !!!!
Review: Gere has never looked better in this under scripted but beautiful picture depicting the decadence of the early 80's. Great music from Blondi accompanies Richard's six pack ab's and Lauren Hutton's gorgeous gap-tooth yet seductive leers. Yum Yum
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