- 2 weeks ago
Here’s my review of the movie American Gigolo.
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Short filmTranscript
00:12hey guys welcome back to another cult movie review with me beau on the film scene investigation
00:21channel thank you so much for checking out this video in today's review i'm going to be taking a
00:28look at the 1980 drama american gigolo as always guys if you haven't already please do consider
00:38subscribing to the channel all the support is greatly appreciated so american gigolo from 1980
00:47was a movie that was written and directed by the filmmaker paul schrader and it's safe to say that
00:56this was a very stylized production that had a young richard gear in the lead role now this is a
01:05film
01:05that i've been aware of for many years but um yeah only recently did i actually sit down to actually
01:13watch it i saw the trailer online and yeah i mean given all the you know glitz and glamour that
01:20was
01:21on show and also because paul schrader was involved um yeah i made it a priority to check it out
01:29so when it comes to the narrative of the movie it followed the character julian clay a high-flying male
01:39escort who was played by richard gear julian was this charming sophisticated young man
01:48who offered his services to the elder ladies of beverly hills because the women were wealthy
01:57it enabled julian to live this extravagant lifestyle with all these designer clothes
02:05and a very nice car to travel around in one day julian was contacted by his pimp leon
02:13and was in need of a favor someone had pulled out of a job and leon needed julian to fill
02:21in
02:22julian was reluctant to take the job but he eventually was persuaded to step in as the replacement
02:31julian arrived at a location in palm springs where he met mr ryman a wealthy financier who paid julian
02:42up front mr ryman then told julian to go have sex with his wife while he watched in the background
02:50i mean this whole thing was just strange um weird setup with the creepy husband and the lifeless wife
03:02on the bed but given julian was being paid he went ahead and did what mr ryman told him to
03:11do the scene then ended abruptly but that wasn't the last we heard of the ryman's as a few days
03:19later
03:20julian would discover that mrs ryman the woman that he slept with had been found dead of course the
03:28authorities wanted to get to the bottom of you know who was responsible and subsequently interviewed
03:35mr ryman where he told investigators that he thought julian was involved suddenly julian was the prime
03:45suspect in a murder case and he had detective joe sunday breathing down his neck for answers
03:53the detective who was played by actor hector elizondo suspected julian of being involved in this
04:02sex game gone wrong and was trying his best to connect the dots julian's reluctancy to give away
04:11any details of what happened that night well it only made detective sunday even more suspicious
04:20very quickly julian found himself ostracized from his usual clientele as word had got around that
04:29he was the prime suspect in a murder case his regular clients started distancing themselves from him
04:38in order to avoid any potential scandal and once the work dried up for julian the paranoia kicked in
04:47suddenly he started questioning everyone and everything around him he knew that he'd been set up
04:56but you know he had no idea who was responsible he had a hard time trusting anyone besides his new
05:04flame
05:05michelle who was played by actress lauren hutton michelle was the wife of a local politician and she was in
05:14a
05:14very unhappy marriage continuously towing the line in order to not cause any issues or any scandal that would
05:23potentially hurt her husband's political career but after her random encounter with julian at a restaurant
05:34she became infatuated with him and even going as far as to find out where julian lived they got together
05:42and grew closer and grew closer as the film continued and as everyone around julian you know wanted to
05:50basically turn on him michelle seemed to be the only one that was willing to stand by him no matter
05:57what
05:58what happened so the film culminated with leon being revealed as the mastermind behind julian's setup
06:08even though leon had denied any wrongdoing deep down he hated julian he thought that julian had grown
06:17this ego and he was no longer any use to him to be honest i wasn't all that shocked i
06:24could kinda
06:25find a sense that leon was you know a shady character and so when it was finally revealed
06:32that he was the mastermind behind it all yeah i mean it was still good to see but um not
06:38all that surprising
06:40so while watching american gigolo i noticed or just i got a sense that the filmmaker paul schrader
06:48was trying to somewhat criticize the corporate consumerism of the time i mean just looking at julian's
07:00lifestyle with the you know luxurious apartment and the designer clothes that character no doubt was a
07:09representation of the materialistic culture of the 1980s yet interestingly underneath
07:18the stylish shamani suits was a man who was lonely detached from reality and in deep need of a true
07:30human connection julian of course would later find that connection when he met michelle and obviously they
07:38started a relationship together their relationship was very fraught at times but through
07:48all the complications that they suffered they stayed together giving the audience a somewhat hopeful
07:55ending to an otherwise pretty bleak story sexuality was also a central theme in american gigolo with a lot of
08:06gay subtext going on within the story which indicated to me that julian was perhaps gay
08:14but a man that couldn't come to terms with his sexuality he did allude to being involved with men in
08:23a
08:23conversation he had with leon and so by all accounts he was at least bisexual but you know let's face
08:31it
08:32this was the world of male prostitution with men sleeping around having multiple partners very similar to a gay lifestyle
08:42also the scene where we saw julian visit a gay nightclub was very telling clearly he had been there before
08:51as some
08:51people on the dance floor recognized him yet his colorful past was only hinted at now watching the movie
09:01and taking in all the information i feel it could be argued that maybe the real reason leon had it
09:11in for julian
09:12all along was because julian was turning down male clients and the reason for this was because julian
09:22could not accept his true sexual orientation he no longer could be with these male clients and
09:31in his eyes he thought that perhaps if he just went with these women that could potentially suppress his
09:39true desires no doubt the filmmakers only touched the surface of this whole subtext of sexuality it was
09:49very interesting and uh i wish they had um you know explored it more now when it comes to the
09:55performances in the movie i thought richard gear did some solid work as the dashing julian k it's perhaps
10:05the coolest i've ever seen richard gear be in a movie julian just had this swagger about him this
10:16ultra confidence that was very different to gears later performances where he usually played characters
10:25that were more refined and straight laced now originally john travolta was cast in the lead role
10:33as julian before scheduling conflicts made him pull out of the project now i don't know if it actually was
10:42scheduling issues i mean from what i've heard john travolta supposedly had some issues with the gay subtext
10:50that was in the movie but still travolta in the julian k role would have been very interesting to see
10:57you know with the designer sharp suits and long hair but either way richard gear got the chance he took
11:07a
11:07risk and you know delivered some great work that propelled him into the mainstream when it comes to actor
11:15bill duke i thought he did a great job playing the bad guy who betrayed julian as i mentioned i
11:23wasn't
11:24all that surprised him turning out to be the you know villain of the story as i said there was
11:30just this
11:30vibe i got from him there was this darkness you know within his eyes but yeah he turned out to
11:39be a
11:39great bad guy and credit to bill duke actress lauren hutton i thought was okay in the role as michelle
11:48julian's love interest she definitely looked the part as a woman who retained her good looks in older age
11:57she certainly was an attractive woman so yeah i mean it made sense that julian was interested in her
12:06they had some good chemistry together but i can't say it was a whirlwind romance
12:15now it's safe to say that american gigolo was a very stylish film from the sleek interiors to the high
12:25fashion this was a very visually pleasing film for me to experience the cinematographer john bailey did a
12:33wonderful job capturing the decadence of beverly hills and interestingly this was the first of many
12:42collaborations between bailey and director paul schrader with the shadowy back streets and the
12:50sunlit boulevards you know this was a master class in neo-noir aesthetics that really showcased the
12:58talents of bailey there was also some very smooth camera work going on in american gigolo with paul
13:06schrader deciding to use a series of long tracking shots one of the first that we saw was when julian
13:14entered the restaurant where he met michelle for the very first time we saw the camera slowly follow
13:21julian as he entered and sat at the bar with these types of techniques used it really established the
13:30characters surroundings and gave us an insight into the world of the rich and powerful some brilliant
13:38stuff and so dislikes for american gigolo from 1980 my biggest dislike for the film would have to be
13:48the anne character who was played by actress nina van palant and was introduced early on as julian's current pimp
13:59their relationship was very love-hate simply because julian wanted to start you know being independent and
14:08working for himself now the actress nina van palant was completely fine in the role i just found her scenes
14:16to be i don't know kind of pointless and they definitely slowed down the pace seeing the anne
14:24character continuously bickering with julian and refusing to help him you know all that stuff could
14:31have easily have been removed and it really wouldn't have made any difference to the story and by me saying
14:39that i guess that kind of leads me on to my other dislike which was the length of the film
14:46now this
14:47was not a huge issue but i just feel that a tighter edit would have benefited the film there was
14:56just some
14:56scenes that i thought lingered on for too long and as i said the anne character for example all that
15:04stuff
15:04could have easily have been removed and yeah would have improved the overall viewing experience
15:12and so ratings for american gigolo from 1980 i am going to be rating this movie a solid 5.5
15:23out of 10.
15:25exploring the themes of redemption and identity american gigolo is definitely a compelling portrait
15:34of a man whose life got turned upside down with schrader's direction and richard gear's star making
15:43performance this movie redefined the noir genre by blending the traditional values with a more
15:51post-modern sensibility as mentioned richard gear delivered a great performance and proved his worth
15:59as a hollywood leading man also the inversion of the male gaze was interesting to see as the julian
16:08character was overtly sexualized for the female audience as for director paul schrader i've been aware of him
16:17for some time but yeah i've never really taken a deep dive into his filmography but after watching
16:25american gigolo um yeah he impressed me so i'll definitely be checking out more of his films going
16:31forward if you've seen american gigolo please let me know your thoughts and memories in the comments
16:38section below for those who haven't it's a recommendation from me especially if you like your
16:44neo-noirs then yes absolutely check this out and well that's all from me today guys i do hope you've
16:51enjoyed this review of american gigolo from 1980 i'll be back next week of course with yet another cult
16:59movie review don't forget to like and subscribe big thank you to all the people all my subscribers
17:05that continuously come back love you guys and of course to everyone out there take care bye
17:25so
17:31you
17:33you
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