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Fading Gigolo (15)

Comedy

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.


The critical consensus

Like the character he plays, Turturro clearly wants his film to be adored, but Fading Gigolo’s decidedly male fantasy doesn’t offer enough laughs or heart to be more than a passing diversion.

***(*)(*)Eddie Harrison, The List, 13/05/2014

Instead of a rather sweet film about loneliness and unexpected connections, we get swingers night at a Woody Allen fan convention.

**(*)(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 18/05/2014

Fading Gigolo is the kind of work you find yourself forgiving for its flaws because there is a core of sweetness and mildness to [Turturro's] films, and because their incidental pleasures often add up to more than the sum of the movie itself.

John Patterson, The Guardian, 17/05/2014

The premise is slightly bizarre but there's enough wink-and-a-nod charm in the performances to earn it a pass.

***(*)(*)Patrick Peters, Empire Online, 19/05/2014

It’s tailor-made for Allen; not only is he as funny as he’s been in years, he and Turturro make a wonderful double act, lacing a seedy-sounding script with warmth and humour.

****(*)James Mottram, Total Film, 19/05/2014

Fading Gigolo is best enjoyed if you don't pay too much attention to its story's construction. Taken as a whimsical but fiery romantic comedy, it has easily enough charm to get away with its own idiosyncrasies.

***(*)(*)Geoffrey MacNab, The Independent, 22/05/2014

It's relaxed, amusing and warm, but nothing rings true.

**(*)(*)(*)Steve Rose, The Guardian, 22/05/2014

Despite the potential pitfalls of the subject matter, the gentle Fading Gigolo ultimately suggests that Turturro is an incurable romantic.

***(*)(*)Allan Hunter, Daily Express, 22/05/2014

Perhaps intended as a spry comedy it falls completely flat.

**(*)(*)(*)Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express, 25/05/2014

It's a strange affair to be sure, buoyed by the conversational interaction between Turturro and Allen, weighed down by the egocentricity of its central conceit, but then leavened too somewhat by the charm of its performances and the dappled air of its golden-glow cinematography.

***(*)(*)Mark Kermode, The Observer, 25/05/2014


Features about Fading Gigolo (15)

John Turturro: 'There are positive things about what sex workers do'

Karley Sciortino, The Guardian, 22/04/2014

John Turturro interview: 'I had a threesome back in the 70s. I was young. It was awkward.'

Tom Shone, The Guardian, 19/05/2014

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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