Gigli Movie Review:


Gigli, the film that started the real life romance of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez has finally been released for audiences to engulf. There is the outside attention of the Ben & J-Lo factor to perhaps draw in moviegoers; however, Gigli is just a dull and sour film from writer/director Martin Brest.

The story follows an overconfident L.A. gangster named Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck). In which his name is pronounced “jee-lee” like “really,” but of course no one can say it right. He is given the high profile task of kidnapping a mentally challenged young man named Brian (Justin Bartha), who is the brother of a local federal prosecutor. After successfully accomplishing his given job, Gigli hides Brian in his one-bedroom apartment. Then a beautiful gangster named Ricki (Jennifer Lopez) shows up with the job of making sure Gigli does not screw up his given assignment. Gigli immediately tries to be sweet to the tough Ricki, but she tells him he is not her type. She then calmly admits that she is a lesbian. When the dangers of the task start to get out of control, the three characters begin to bond with one another, and Gigli finds himself unable to rid the feelings that he has developed for Ricki.

This film is just another shelved disaster that is finally being released. The plot is dumb-witted, the characters are shallow, the dialogue is flimsy, and the outcomes are disastrous. There has been ample reference with Gigli to a the similar lesbian-straight man relational concept conceived in Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy, which also starred Affleck, but it is a insult to say that Gigli is in the same category as Chasing Amy.

Martin Brest is a filmmaker that has made some very solid films in his career including Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, and Scent of a Woman. It is really hard to decipher what Brest is shooting for with Gigli. Is it a gangster film? A drama? A romance? A comedy? Who is the film’s targeted adult audience? The script also just has one boring and pointless scene after another. Examples are Gigli’s “cow vs. bull” monologue and the continuos “male vs. female” dialogue swiping between Gigli and Ricki. There are also some cruel moments, such as the handicapped and homosexual references. It just seems from the first to last scene of the film that Brest was reaching for elements that just were not there or did not work.

Ben Affleck is embarrassing in his role as the tough gangster Gigli. His performance is not totally over the top, but not effective either. He carries a thick L.A. accent and is just miscast as the ruthless lonely gangster. The script also does not give Affleck or any other cast member much to work with. Jennifer Lopez’s performance as the homosexual gangster Ricki is not even close to being convincing. The young newcomer to the film, Justin Bartha does what he can as the mentally challenged Brian, but there many scenes in which he is just standing in the background. For some reason Christopher Walken makes a cameo as a police officer and Al Pacino arises as a powerful mobster. Both take their liberties with the small roles, especially Pacino, but their performances are too small to have any type of impact.

Gigli is just an unengaging film full of inconsistencies and staleness. This is not the worst film of the summer, but it is pretty close. Hopefully the talents involved with this film will be able to rebound in the future.

Grade: D

08/01/03
By Joseph C. Tucker

Most of my fellow media writers have said that “Gigli” is probably the worst film of the year. Some have compared it to being as awful as “Ishtar”. I usually don’t let my fellow writers influence my critiques but the backlash towards this film seems unavoidable.

I wouldn’t go as far as comparing it to infamous box office disasters like “Ishtar” and “Hudson Hawk”. For me I compare it to the sci-fi crumbler “Battlefield: Earth”. Why? Well let’s talk about what the film is really about first.

Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck) is your typical run-of-the-mill Mafia thug. He’s full of himself, a player with the ladies and loves his job. Gigli is given an assignment by his connection to the mob, Louis (Lenny Venito), to kidnap Brian (Justin Bartha), the younger brother of a significant District Attorney.

Gigli is ecstatic about his new job and snags the younger brother only to find out that he is psychologically challenged. Gigli has no patience with this. If that wasn’t bad enough for Gigli, his boss sticks him with Rikki (Jennifer Lopez), a fellow Mafia thug who also happens to be a lesbian. Can Gigli get through this assignment without screwin’ up? Who knows?

“Gigli” was destined to be a train-wreck even if super couple Ben and Jen hadn’t been in the movie. With jokes involving the Gigli character screaming at Brian to shut-up or a come-hither scene that opens with the line, “It’s turkey time”, you know you have hit rock bottom in the romantic comedy field.

Let’s place the script aside and focus on the story for a moment. You have a Mafia thug seducing and much disciplined lesbian. For one thing neither character has anything in common. Another thing if you are going to have a lesbian in a movie why do you always have to dumb her down. Why make her a lesbian at all?

One of the better scenes in the film does involve lesbian Lopez putting street-thug Affleck in his place after he proclaims that men are the world’s center of passion. The second and final better scene is at the film’s conclusion when Brian’s dream comes true. I guess I liked Brian enough to want to see him be happy.

Justin Bartha’s Brian is a good solid performance and he shows how literally dull a movie with heavy-weights like Affleck, Lopez, Al Pacino and Christopher Walken can be. The cameos by Pacino and Walken are utterly forgettable and a waste of time in their esteemed careers. Pacino rants and fires a guns, well gee, been there done that how many times?

So what does “Gigli” and “Battlefield: Earth” has in common? Well each film has an awful script followed by a couple isolated stand-out moments. Each film is a rock-bottom candidate for each’s genre. Finally both films have a main character that is a relative unknown who outshines even the strongest of actors, Barry Pepper in “Earth” and Bartha in “Gigli”. Maybe my comparison will hold but it is just one guy’s opinion.

(1 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

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