3/5 "Call Me" Crazy, But I Wasn't That Impressed
  by Richard Ross
'Taxi Driver' writer Paul Schrader wrote and directed this film about a male escort named Julian (Richard Gere) who romances a senator's wife (Lauren Hutton) and gets framed for murder. Besides the Scorsese classic, this is Schrader's second biggest credit. I've only seen a couple of his films as director, but I prefer him more as a writer. That isn't to say he isn't skilled behind the camera since this film does an excellent job of portraying a cold and shallow world of excess and consumerism and the even colder people who live in it. The story is intriguing and makes for a very suspenseful film. You feel as helpless as Julian as you wonder who could be framing him and why. Gere and Hutton are both good looking and each appear nude in the film. The best work though comes courtesy of supporting players like Bill Duke and Hector Elizondo. Duke is frightening as a shady pimp who contracts Julian for jobs catering to the kinky crowd. It is one of his clients who winds up murdered, so Julian naturally goes to him for help. He proves to be anything but loyal for a friend. The single funnest performance is that of Hector Elizondo as Det. Sunday. Elizondo, chewing the scenery along with a giant cigar, is a hoot in his scenes with Gere. Sunday is in awe of Julian's hypnotic hold over women. In a clever plot twist, Julian agrees to trade style and grooming advice with Sunday for more lenient care when he becomes a murder suspect. The film builds to a surprising climax as we figure out who the murderer is and what happens to Julian. Boasting plenty of coke, Armani suits, and an amazing score from Giorgio Moroder the film is pretty entertaining but not the iconic 80's film I was expecting.

4/5 Sad story about a very sad man
  by B. Hartford (Massachusetts - United States)
The only redeeming factor in this movie is the 80's style of clothing and his sense of style. Well, I guess there are a few other parts of the movie worth watching, but overall, I would not spend the money to purchase this movie. Better to rent!

4/5 call me for your lover's lover's alibi
  by C. CRADDOCK (Bakersfield)
"American Gigolo", like Julian Kaye, the titular gigolo played by Richard Gere, has a shimmering surface, but underneath that thin veneer lies nothing but shallow narcissism. Released in 1980, it really captured the zeitgeist of that era; you could call it the quintessential film of the 80's.

Julian Kaye is most passionate when he is perfecting that surface. When he is exercising, hanging upside down from weird high tech boots while simultaneously learning to speak Swedish from instructional tapes, he is a dedicated and disciplined soldier. While sorting through his wardrobe, picking the perfect combination of tie, shirt, and pants to perfect his ensemble, he is truly alive.

The rest of the time he is whining about being misunderstood, but it was impossible to understand what he was saying, half the time. He would either be mumbling, whispering -- or SHOUTING! I can only speculate on what some of the dialogue was, but Julian Kaye was always complaining, always kvetching, and always trying to negotiate a better deal. Even when he meets Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton), a Senator's wife and his ostensible love interest, he protests that he is not that kind of girl. She puts it bluntly:

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Michelle Stratton: How much?
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She has already figured out what kind of girl Julie is; now they are just haggling over the price.

At least she appreciates him. No one else seems to. When he finally uncovers who has been trying to frame him for a murder, he asks them, 'why me?'

"Because you were framable. You've stepped on too many toes. Nobody ever cared about you. I never even liked you much myself."

It is hard for the audience to care about him, too. That makes it hard to connect with the film apart from the dazzling surface.

Though set in Southern California, there's a European look to the film's mise en scène, due to superb production design by (unaccredited) Ferdinando Scarfiotti. The celebrated designer is best known for his work with director Bernardo Bertolucci. Scarfiotti lacked a guild card, and was not credited for his work, but in a film that stresses style over substance, he can't be credited enough. It is the look of the film, more than the content that stays with you.

When Julian gets behind the wheel of his very expensive and stylish automobile with "Call Me" by Blondie blasting on the soundtrack, you get a taste of what it feels like. Giorgio Moroder, best known for his work with disco diva Donna Summers, wrote the music and had Deborah Harry write the lyrics. Before Harry came up with the 'Call Me' hook the track was called "The Man Machine." She really nailed the concept and the whole song was finished quickly, and then rerecorded with her band, Blondie. Her voice is a perfect fit. The "Call Me" musical motif continues throughout the film, and some of the soundtrack was even composed by the director Paul Schrader and Moroder.

For all the influence this film had, the murder mystery at its core is very weak. Director and writer Paul Schrader lacks the knack for this sort of genre, it seems, though his script for "Taxi Driver," directed by Martin Scorsese, certainly generated plenty of suspense. Schrader is no Hitchcock, that's for sure. Still, there was a certain je ne sais quois about the film that captures an era, the dawning of a new and decadent decade that was the 80's.

Filmography of Writer and Director Paul Schrader

Auto Focus (2002)
Light Sleeper (1992)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - Criterion Collection (1985)
Cat People (1982)
Hardcore (1979)

Selected Roles of Richard Gere

I'm Not There. (2007) .... Billy
Pretty Woman (1990) .... Edward Lewis
Breathless (1983) .... Jesse Lujack
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) .... Zack Mayo
Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) .... Tony Lo Porto


Filmography of the team of Bernardo Bertolucci; the director, Vittorio Storraro; the cinematographer and production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti

The Sheltering Sky (1990)
... aka Il tè nel deserto (Italy)
Last Emperor (1987)
... aka L'ultimo imperatore (Italy)
... aka Le dernier empereur (France)
... aka Modai huangi (China: Cantonese title)
Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972)
... aka Last Tango in Paris (UK) (USA)
... aka Le dernier Tango à Paris (France)
Il conformista (1970)
... aka Der Konformist (West Germany)
... aka Der große Irrtum (West Germany)
... aka Le conformiste (France)
... aka The Conformist (Extended Edition) (USA)

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Anne: Julie, I made you! I taught you everything you know! How to dress, table manners, how to move, how to make love...
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4/5 A ladies man kind of a movie
  by Taheen Lopez (United States- San Diego, CA)
I remember when I saw AMERICAN GIGILO for the very first time on HBO back in the Summer of 1981 when I envied Richard Gere(Julian) for being a ladies man, since Gere would get paid for humping around with certain gals he dated or got set up with along with his chauffer job in addition to that, plus Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton were sizzling together in this movie, especially after Gere scores with Hutton for the very first time in total nudity, but the second half of this movie is kind of bizarre when Gere gets arrested & locked up for an accidential killing while defending himself against Bill Duke, which leaves a very touching ending to this movie between Gere and Hutton.

This movie also takes me all the way back to memory lane to when I was 7 years old and still living in the Imperial Valley in my hometown(El Centro, CA) since I was an Imperial County resident from 1974-1995.

3/5 Speak in a normal tone of voice, please
  by A Customer (Chicago)
I was weary of turning the volume up and down during this movie. Richard Gere is either mumbling or yelling. Lauren Hutton was whispering the whole time. Although I thought she was great for the part, with her androgynous looks that would appeal to a line-straddler such as Julian Kaye, she needed more acting lessons. She appeared nervous -- more nervous than her character required. I would have liked to see Julian with one of his older clients, doing what he apparently does best. The movie got it backwards -- older women, it seems, want to be sexually noticed, and the younger women want someone who will listen to them. Gere goes on and on about older women and the pleasure he gets from giving them pleasure, but all you see is him safely escorting older women, as a gay pal might do for any gal. Gere has that ability to be both low-class and yet convey to others that he believes he's superior. I'm surprised that Swedish madam didn't wring his neck and dump him in a bay. I just love the stupid scene in which she's not paying attention to her child with whom she gets only visitation, and Gere comes up with something like a "Hey, kid,," and throws his ball to another area as if he were a fetch dog. And the poor kid character runs after it. Just an upscale version of the strippers who have their kids backstage, being watched by God knows who. It's seedy as all get-out, with great clothes. Hutton has the best wardrobe. I would have liked to see more development of why her character and Julian Kaye fell in love. She makes it clear that it isn't the sex. She seems to portray a depth that Kaye can't match, so what does she see in him to warrant love? Something shared, something more revealing would have been interesting. Was his last line really, "It took me so long to come to you?" I couldn't hear well because of his mumbling. But if so, that is hilarious, considering his earlier speech of how long it took him to help an older woman to orgasm.