Fading Gigolo (2013)

Fioravante decides to become a professional Don Juan as a way of making money to help his cash-strapped friend, Murray. With Murray acting as his "manager", the duo quickly finds themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and money.

Director:

John Turturro

Writer:

John Turturro

Stars:

John Turturro, Woody Allen, Sharon Stone

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Turturro	...	Fioravante
Woody Allen	...	Murray
Vanessa Paradis	...	Avigal
Liev Schreiber	...	Dovi
Sharon Stone	...	Dr. Parker
Sofía Vergara	...	Selima
Abe Altman	...	First Rabbi
Michael Badalucco	...	Burly Driver
Bob Balaban	...	Sol
M'Barka Ben Taleb	...	Mimou
Teddy Bergman	...	Yossi
Max Casella	...	Guy at Counter
Loan Chabanol	...	Loan
Isaiah Clifton	...	Cyrus
Jade Dixon	...	Cee Cee

Storyline

Murray, the bankrupt owner of a bookstore, is forced to close his family business. His dermatologist, Dr. Parker, dreams of having a threesome and would pay a thousand dollars to have one with her friend Selima. Murray then proposes to his friend Fioravante that they start a male prostitution business, with Murray acting as the pimp. However, when Fioravante meets a Hasidic Jewish woman, Avigal, who is the widow of a rabbi, they fall in love with each other. But a Jewish neighborhood patrolman, Dovi, is in love with Avigal too, and might make life difficult for Fioravante and Murray.

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Plot Keywords:

gigolo | male escort | book shop owner | nyc | 2010s | 

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Taglines:

The oldest profession just got older.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexual content, language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish Ladino Hebrew Italian Portuguese Latin

Release Date:

9 April 2014 (France)

Also Known As:

Fading Gigolo

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$180,801, 20 April 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,763,973, 13 July 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antidote Films (I),Covert Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When saying what a gigolo should look like, Fioravante mentions George Clooney. Clooney & Turturro starred in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou! (2000) together as 2 parts of the lead trio

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Quotes

[first lines]
Murray: My grandfather started the shop. My father had it. And now - I - have to - close it. This is the end of an era, my friend. Let me tell ya, now a days only rare people buy rare books.
Fioravante: We'll get back on our feet.

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Connections

References Casablanca (1942)

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Soundtracks

Maggie Murphy's Home
Traditional
Performed by Chris Carlisle
Courtesy of Carlisle Music Co LLC

User Reviews

573rd Review: A Comedy For Romantic Grown-Ups

Fading Gigolo so easily could be a Rollins & Joffe Production and an Allen film; it has all the sensibilities of Allen's comedies since Manhatten - the sexual confusion, the ennui, the desire for love and romance versus the ambition and instincts.

For this reviewer? I chose to see it as a grown-up romantic comedy, a comedy of errors, where Woody Allen and John Turturo's characters are both opportunistic and weary and the women are both fantasizing and projecting and being fantasized and projected. There is enough complexity and simplicity to really make this a stylish, witty, and enjoyable film.

As a jazz geek the score was superb and throughout Turturro adds little touches that make this film a quiet delight. It may not be a perfect film in that the women are too perfect and the contrasts too broad, but you would have to be mean spirited indeed not to enjoy it. It even has something to say about loneliness rather than lust being the source of sex, and that love, however fleeting, even in New York, can happen.