Fading Gigolo
Director: John Turturro
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 1.5
Inside a tight-knit Jewish community, cash-starved Murray (Woody Allen, in a rare acting job for another director) convinces sexually potent florist Fioravante (Turturro) to work as a gigolo to some fine ladies - Ms. Paradis, Ms. Stone, Ms. Vergara - much to the disapproval of Jewish elders (and especially the meddling Liev Schreiber). Though a trifle of a film, with Turturro horrifically miscasting himself as the lead, the scenes with Allen are still charming (or is it nostalgia at play?) as he essentially pimps out his friend (in order to provide for his rather large mixed-culture family) and still seem naive and innocent while doing it. Turturro, in trying to ape Allen's style - down to the jazzy soundtrack - loses sight of his own perspective.
