There comes a point in some renowned actors’ careers where they feel the desire or inspiration to try a hand behind the camera. For former child stars such as Ron Howard, Jodie Foster and Sarah Polley, a new talent can be discovered and multiply their success for years to come. Others, such as Charles Laughton or Robert De Niro, will experiment with only one or two attempts but still leave a lasting impression on audiences. Others have to remind viewers that they have experimented outside of acting.
This year, character actor John Turturro delivers his fourth directorial effort with “Fading Gigolo.”
“Gigolo” begins with an elderly bookshop owner named Murray (Woody Allen) in the process of permanently closing his store with his employee and old friend Fioravante (Turturro). Murray mentions that while having one of his regular visits with Dr. Parker (Sharon Stone), she randomly declares that she and her girlfriend, Selima (Sofía Vergara), want to try a ménage à trois. Murray explains to Fioravante that he would be a good fit for the experience, and not only with the two women but as a regular Don Juan of sorts. With Murray as Fioravante’s would-be pimp, the duo embark on a subtle venture for interested women. That is until Fioravante falls for a lonely widow named Avigal (Vanessa Paradis). Liev Schreiber co-stars as Avigal’s overprotective neighbor.
Allen himself has arguably the most successful transition from in front of the camera to behind it, with his early years as a comedian to now being primarily a filmmaker. Here in “Gigolo,” he takes a rare acting job in another director’s movie, and it seems to be as a favor for Turturro (who began his film career in Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters”). Murray is clearly written for only Woody, as he is his usual neurotic Jewish screen persona and often steals the scene. It gets to the point where we even have to remind ourselves that the film is written by Turturro, not Allen.
Stone and Vergara also play familiar roles as attractive, sexually active women, which the audience is used to seeing them as, but French celebrity Paradis surprisingly makes her American cinema debut against stereotype as a conservative mother and widow. Despite the impressive cast Turturro pulled for his brainchild and the potential for a humorous tale of courtship, “Fading Gigolo” misses the mark by a bit. There are some entertaining scenes between Allen and Turturro, and between the Turturro and the women. But the dialogue comes across amateurish in a few scenes, and the story structure and character development get lost by the time the third act rolls around. There are a couple of interesting sequences on the racial themes throughout the neighborhood the film is set in, but they belong in a better film.
Rated R.
mbianco@durangoherald.com. Megan Bianco is a movie reviewer and also contributes other entertainment related features and articles.
