BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
I didn’t know what to expect going into “Fading Gigolo”. It would have helped if I had seen a trailer beforehand but the plot was described as a “old man turns to pimping his younger friend to be a prostitute in a quirky comedy starring John Turturro, co-starring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, and Liev Schreiber.” On paper that sounds like a lot of fun. The thing here is the tone. It’s not as bold and “in your face” in terms of the content. It’s drawn back and they get pretty racy in the bedroom scenes. It’s not too crazy or anything, but it just wasn’t expected. The tone of the movie is dry. It’s not just a dialed back movie that focuses on the human nature while in a silly situation. It’s almost restrained from genuine emotion. It’s hard to put my finger on. Something is just off. That’s not to say I wouldn’t watch this movie again. It’s got a lot of heart under the awkwardness, the chemistry between Allen and Turturro is great and it’s barely an hour and a half. If I catch it on TV I’d watch it again. It’s not the best movie, but it’s not something you should avoid. It’s a nice late evening movie on a work night or a Sunday afternoon in the PJs movie. It’s a casually pleasant movie with some edgy stuff thrown in. Why not? B-
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