American Gigolo

Although writer-director Schrader is well known for his preoccupation with the angst-ridden emotions derived from Catholic guilt and American Gigolo provides ample evidence of this, his expression of it in this story of a Hollywood male escort, Julian Kay (Richard Gere), who is framed in a kinky murder case is is too sanitized and freighted by mainstream '80s production values to have much bite.

Schrader sets his protagonist up as a relatively carefree spirit who sees himself as providing a useful service and is content to look no further. It takes a frame-up and the prospect of doing time to bring his equanimity unstuck. Yet it is precisely the externality of this event to his moral universe that brings Schrader’s case for redemption unstuck. For along comes the virginal princess (Lauren Hutton) to save his bacon by lying her ass off and giving up her loveless life of married privilege to spoon with him for ever and a day. How lucky can one get? Outta jail and the girl! Did redemption ever come this easy?

Gere, in a role which was apparently originally intended for John Travolta gives an understated but quite effective performance and presumably the demurely obliging Hutton was cast because the original intendee for the part, Faye Dunaway, who really would have given the role some much-needed oomph wasn’t available or interested, whilst Billy Crystal lookalike Hector Elizondo gives the most memorable performance as a cigar-chomping detective.  The slickness of the narrative is mirrored by the film’s visual sheen, itself, particularly with the reinforcement of Giorgio Moroder;s score, typical of '80’s LA crime stories.

Schrader briefly in the latter part of the film segues into some suitably sleazier territory before pulling out into an oddly episodic resolution that takes us to the uplifting payoff. Although far from unwatchable, American Gigolo is a misalliance of thriller, which Schrader doesn't seem particularly interested in, and love story, which he is. It is a pity that he fell back on such a conventional vehicle to carry his message.

 

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