Overview
He may be best known for playing the odd-ball but John Turturro's decision to cast himself as the unlikely romantic lead pays off in the charming comedy Fading Gigolo.
Turturro directs and plays Fioravante, a quiet living middle-aged man who is barely making ends meet. He works two part time jobs as a florist and as a sales assistant in a failing bookshop. When bookshop owner and long time friend Murray (Woody Allen) proposes Fioravante start turning tricks to provide them both with an income he takes a bit of convincing.
The idea of Murray as a pimp seems even more unstereotypical but he proves his chops as a dealer of sexual favours. He soon has the ladies lining up for a session with Fioravante and Sharon Stone and Sofía Vergara are two of his first customers. The friends are smoking hot and fruity as hell, playing up the roles which made them famous. Stone sits bare-legged on a couch eating chocolates in a very Basic Instinct-like moment. Vergara, best known for her role as Jay's wife and Colombian beauty Gloria in Modern Family, tells Fioravante that a woman needs to be looked at.
French actress, singer, and model Vanessa Paradis plays Avigal, the client who steals the gigolo’s heart. She's a Jewish widow with six children and her neighbor Dovi (Liev Schreiber) is obsessed with her. He becomes increasingly jealous when Avigal is seen with Murray and then Fioravante. Dovi's investigations lead to Murray being forced to explain himself in front of a court of white-bearded Jewish elders quoting Old Testament rhetoric.
At the heart of the film is the endearing friendship between Murray and Fioravante, although Murray's relationship with his much younger girlfriend's tribe of children also provides touching comedic moments. A scene in which Avigal's orthodox Jewish children team up with Murray's lot to play baseball is particularly funny.
Fading Gigolo is a light and quirky comedy but it stops short of being anything more. We never really get to know a lot about this quietly spoken, well-read lover or what motivates him. Even when Fioravante realises he's in love, it still feels cold. At one point Stone's character Dr Parker tells him: "You're top shelf, hard to reach. That's what makes you so good". It's meant as a compliment but it also points to the least satisfying aspect of the film.