film A perfect gentleman
‘Fading Gigolo’ revisits the world’s oldest profession by Michael J. Casey
F
ading Gigolo, which opened The Boulder International Film Festival in February and is now enjoying a theatrical run, begins in a truly unexpected fashion: a pimp and his hoe discussing business while packing up a used bookstore. The pimp, Murray (Woody Allen), offhandedly mentions that his dermatoloMrs. Robinson, are you trying to pay me for sex? gist, Dr. Parker (Sharon Stone), and her friend, Selima (Sofía Vergara), are looking for a guy to have a ménage-aMurray suggests that Fioravante take on trois. Murray is a bit old for the task, a third client, Avigal (Vanessa Paradis), but he offers the services of his hoe, a young widow leading a lonely exisFioravante ( John Turturro). A logical tence raising her children. Their first proposition, if Fioravante was a male meeting tenderly shatters her world. No prostitute, but he’s not. At least, not yet. money is exchanged, no sex is involved, Fioravante takes the gig, and the Fioravante simply caresses her bare back role of gigolo fits him like a glove. Dr. and for the first time, she realizes that Parker soon falls under his spell, as does she has never been touched. All three Selima. With this success under his belt, women want one thing: to be appreciat-
PICK OF THE WEEK
ALIVE MIND CINEMA SERIES: BEING IN THE WORLD Alive Mind Cinema is a monthly series featuring films that explore the meaning of life and happiness. These critically acclaimed and transformative films present the power of art and spirituality to change how we see our world. Each screening is followed by a discussion led by local leaders in the spiritual and theological communities. Being in the World takes us on a journey around the world to meet philosophers influenced by the thought of Martin Heidegger, as well as experts in the fields of sports, music, craft and cooking, in a celebration of human beings and our ability to find meaning in life through the mastery of physical, intellectual and creative skills. At Boedecker. —Boedecker Theater
BIG MEN On May 28, 7 p.m., join a Skype Q&A with director Rachel Boynton. The film’s central story follows a small group of American explorers at Dallas-based oil company Kosmos Energy. Between 2007 and 2011, with unprecedented, independent access, Big Men’s two-person crew filmed inside the oil company as Kosmos and its partners discovered and developed the first commercial oil field in Ghana’s history. Simultaneously, the crew filmed in the swamps of Nigeria’s Niger Delta, following the exploits of a militant gang to reveal another side of the economy of oil: people trying to profit in any way possible, because they’ve given up on waiting for the money to trickle down. So what happens when a group of hungry people discover a massive and exquisitely rare pot of gold in one of the poorest places on earth? At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. When he learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth, he must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he
42 May 22, 2014
ed. Their existence and sexual desires have become habit. Fioravante changes all that by simply looking at them and touching them. The premise of Fading Gigolo is utterly preposterous — in what world would a woman pay John Turturro for sex? Sofía Vergara and Sharon Stone want to have a three-way, but they can’t find a man to join in? They are willing to pay? All movies require the audience to suspend some amount of disbelief, but Fading Gigolo almost goes too far. Almost. It manages to remain plausible by existing in a world where husbands are indifferent to their wives, so the wives must take matters into their own hands. Dr. Parker explains that her husband is rarely home because he is a mountain climber. I’m inclined to believe that “mountain climbing” is
raised as his own. “A tender poem about the ebb and flow of paternal love.” — The Telegraph. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
LOVE IS IN THE AIR (AMOUR & TURBULENSES) In this delightful French romantic comedy, soon-to-be-married Julie and continent-hopping playboy Antoine find themselves seated next to each other on a first class flight to Paris — but it isn’t a welcome arrangement. He broke her heart three years prior, and they haven’t spoken since. Over the course of the flight, their verbal sparring catches the attention of the other passengers, who are amused by the live soap opera happening in front of them. Alternating between real time and flashbacks from their love affair, this big-budget French affair is a breezy, glossy and sexy alternative to the typical Hollywood romantic comedy. At Boedecker. —Boedecker Theater
ON THE OTHER HAND MOVIE SERIES: FRACKNATION Panel discussion after screening includes: Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute; John Ashby, geological engineer; Neshama Abraham, Environmental Services and Marketing; and Wes Wilson, EPA whistleblower. This rebuttal to Gasland and exploration of hydraulic fracturing is bound to spark discussion. When journalist Phelim McAleer is put off by Gasland’s Josh Fox during a press conference, he uses Kickstarter to fund a documentary that casts doubt on environmentalist claims about the effects of fracking. At
innuendo for a mistress. Selima is starved for attention and Avigal is lonely and has always been. The answer to all three of their problems is Fioravante. He is funny, but not too much. He is well read and well cultured, but not in a snobbish manner. He can cook, but he doesn’t make a big deal about it. By trade he is a florist, a man used to getting his hands dirty, while maintaining a delicate touch. He may not be a matinee idol, but he is attractive to these women in a much more desirable way. He may not look like Don Draper, but Don Draper is an asshole. Fioravante is a perfect gentleman. Fading Gigolo plays like a Woody Allen movie that just happens to be written, directed and starring John Turturro. The characters are well developed, the community is fully realized, there are plenty of good jokes and very little is wasted. Jazz music keeps the pace moving and most importantly, a touch of the absurd keeps the story interesting. The premise of a man taking on a second phase in life as a gigolo is preposterous, but what it reveals is honest. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
THEATER ON SCREEN: CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA Christopher Plummer and Nikki James star in George Bernard Shaw’s celebrated comedy about a Roman political strategist and a teenage Egyptian queen. At Boedecker. —Boedecker Theater
TIM’S VERMEER Tim Jenison, a Texas-based inventor, (Video Toaster, LightWave, TriCaster) attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer (“Girl with a Pearl Earring”) manage to paint so photo-realistically — 150 years before the invention of photography? The epic research project Jenison embarks on to test his theory is as extraordinary as what he discovers. Spanning a decade, Jenison’s adventure takes him to Delft, Holland, where Vermeer painted his masterpieces, on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artist David Hockney and eventually to Buckingham Palace, to see the Queen’s Vermeer. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly