''Gigli'' ( ) is a 2003 American
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
crime film written and directed by
Martin Brest
Martin Brest (born August 8, 1951) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.
Education
Brest was born in the Bronx, New York, and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1969, from New York University's School of the Arts in 1 ...
and starring
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...
,
Jennifer Lopez,
Justin Bartha
Justin Lee Bartha (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor, known for his roles as Riley Poole in the ''National Treasure'' film series, Doug Billings in ''The Hangover'' trilogy, and David Sawyer in the NBC comedy series '' The New Normal''. ...
,
Al Pacino,
Christopher Walken, and
Lainie Kazan
Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for ''St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actr ...
.
Despite popular media giving attention and interest to the film during production (primarily because stars Affleck and Lopez were romantically involved at the time), ''Gigli'' was heavily panned, and, in the years since release, it has been considered one of the
worst films of all time. It was also one of the
most expensive box-office bombs in history, grossing $7.2 million against a $75.6 million budget. To date, it is the most recent film Brest directed.
Plot
Larry Gigli is a low-ranking
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
mobster who is not nearly as tough as he likes to act. Louis, a higher-ranking member of Gigli's organization, commands him to
kidnap
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
the
mentally challenged
Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation, Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...
younger brother of a powerful
federal prosecutor
An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...
to use as a bargaining chip to save New York-based mob boss Starkman from prison.
Gigli successfully convinces the young man, Brian, to go off with him by promising to take him "to the Baywatch", apparently a reference to the
television show of that name, which seems to be Brian's singular obsession. Louis does not trust Gigli to get the job done right, so he hires a woman calling herself Ricki to take charge.
Gigli is attracted to Ricki, but he resents both Louis' lack of faith in him and having to take orders from a woman. He is also frustrated by Brian's insistence on going to "the Baywatch" and by the fact that Ricki is a
lesbian. A suspicious detective comes to the apartment to question Gigli in reference to Brian's disappearance. He is further annoyed when his mother immediately bonds with Ricki and they team up to needle him.
Events take a darker turn when Gigli and Ricki receive orders to cut off Brian's thumb, something neither wants to do. Worse, her ex-girlfriend, Robin, shows up at the apartment, accusing Ricki of changing
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
. Robin attempts suicide by
self-mutilation
Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...
and is rushed to the hospital, where she survives. There, Gigli sneaks into the morgue and cuts off a corpse's thumb, which he sends to the prosecutor as Brian's. Gigli and Ricki go back to his apartment, where he confesses his love and they sleep together.
They are summoned to meet with the mob boss. Starkman reveals that he did not approve of the plan to kidnap a federal prosecutor's brother or cut off Brian's thumb. He nevertheless rages at them because it didn't match Brian's
fingerprint
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...
, and therefore not only failed to increase pressure on the prosecutor but even undermined their credibility.
Starkman then kills Louis, in retaliation for the kidnapping and associated scrutiny by law enforcement. He is about to kill Ricki and Gigli, but she talks him out of it. She points out that only they know where Brian is and only they can silence and prevent him from revealing Starkman's organization's involvement in the kidnapping.
They leave Starkman's, decide to leave the mob, and discuss taking Brian back to where they found him. On the way, they discover a ''Baywatch''-like music video filming on the beach. Brian begs to be let off there and finally, they consent.
Gigli convinces Ricki to take his car to escape to parts unknown; but at the last minute, she returns to pick him up, and they leave town together.
Cast
*
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...
as Larry Gigli
*
Jennifer Lopez as Ricki/Rochelle
*
Justin Bartha
Justin Lee Bartha (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor, known for his roles as Riley Poole in the ''National Treasure'' film series, Doug Billings in ''The Hangover'' trilogy, and David Sawyer in the NBC comedy series '' The New Normal''. ...
as Brian
*
Lainie Kazan
Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for ''St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actr ...
as Mrs. Gigli
*
Al Pacino as Starkman
*
Lenny Venito
Lenny Venito (born May 10, 1969) is an American actor, who has made appearances in movies such as '' Gigli'', '' Men in Black 3'', and '' War of the Worlds''. He also starred as Marty Weaver in the ABC comedy '' The Neighbors'' and James "Mur ...
as Louis
*
Christopher Walken as Detective Stanley Jacobellis
* Missy Crider as Robin
*
Terrence Camilleri as Man in Dryer
Production
Halle Berry was invited as the female lead before dropping due to scheduling conflicts with ''
X2'', being replaced with Jennifer Lopez, who signed in late 2001 for a reported $12 million.
Gigli began shooting in Los Angeles on December 10, 2001. The original ending featured Gigli being killed, but after negative response to a test screening, the ending was re-shot and re-edited.
Release and reception
Critical reception
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, ''Gigli'' has an approval rating of 6% based on 187 reviews with an average rating of 3.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Bizarre and clumsily plotted, ''Gigli'' is a mess. As for its stars, Affleck and Lopez lack chemistry." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a score of 18 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D−" on an A+ to F scale.
On ''
Ebert and Roeper
''At the Movies'' (originally ''Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'', and later ''At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper'') is an American movie review television program produced by Disney–ABC Domestic Television in which two film critics share the ...
'', critics
Roger Ebert and
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...
both gave the film thumbs down, although Ebert showed some sympathy towards the film, stating it had "clever dialogue", but was "...too disorganized for me to recommend it". Roeper called the film "a disaster" and "one of the worst movies I've ever seen". He then included ''Gigli'' on his 100 worst films of the decade at #7.
Ebert and
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...
were two of the very few major critics to not write it off completely. Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four and made the balanced observation that "the movie tries to do something different, thoughtful, and a little daring with their relationship, and although it doesn’t quite work, maybe the movie is worth seeing for some scenes that are really very good." He also considered Lopez and Affleck "appealing in their performances" and that they "have chemistry" together. Berardinelli gave it two stars, saying, "This isn't a good film, but, when set alongside the likes of ''
Dumb and Dumberer'' and ''
Legally Blonde 2
''Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde'' (also referred to simply as ''Legally Blonde 2'') is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and written by Kate Kondell. It is a sequel to the 2001 film ''Legally Blonde'' and the ...
'', Jen & Ben offer less pain."
Joel Siegel
Joel Steven Siegel (July 7, 1943 – June 29, 2007) was an American film critic for the ABC morning news show ''Good Morning America'' for over 25 years. The winner of multiple Emmy Awards, Siegel also worked as a radio disc jockey and an adverti ...
of ''
Good Morning America'' awarded the film with a "D" rating and stated in his review "To qualify as a historic failure, a film needs a measure of pretension and all ''Gigli'' ever wanted to be was a romantic comedy. What it is is a dreadful romantic comedy."
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
''s
Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "C+", stating "A watchable bad movie, but it's far from your typical cookie-cutter blockbuster. There are no shoot-outs or car chases, and there isn't much romantic suspense, either."
One of the few positive reviews came from Amy Dawes of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', who wrote that the story was ludicrous and that the film would tank, but that on balance she found it a fun film with several good performances.
In recent years, the movie has increasingly been re-evaluated by critics. For example, Jason Bailey in a piece for the ''Guardian'', notes that "in the 21st century, the mixed review has become an endangered species – most readers look for the Rotten Tomatoes rating and pull-quote, and little beyond that. Everything is the absolute holy-shit best or the godawful worst of all time, and there’s nothing in between. Gigli is in between."
Box office
''Gigli'' grossed $3,753,518 in its opening weekend from 2,215 theaters averaging $1,694 per theater and ranking #8 at the box office. The negative response led the studio to pull the advertisement for the film and replace them with another of their releases, ''
Bad Boys II
''Bad Boys II'' is a 2003 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. The sequel to the 1995 film '' Bad Boys'' and the second film in the ''Bad Bo ...
''. The film set a record to date (2003) for the biggest
second-weekend drop in box office gross of any film in wide release since that statistic was kept; it dropped by 81.9% in its second weekend compared to its first, grossing $678,640. By its third weekend in release, only 73 US theaters were showing it, a 97% drop from its first weekend. The film ultimately earned $6,087,542 domestically and $1,178,667 internationally for a total of $7,266,209 on a $75.6 million production budget.
After its third week it was withdrawn, one of the shortest circulation times for a big-budget film. In the United Kingdom, the film was dropped by virtually every cinema after critics panned it. ''Gigli'' was stated to be a major part in
Sony Pictures losing $42 million in the quarter of its release, even though the studio had the successful ''Bad Boys II'' and ''
S.W.A.T.
In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...
'' during the same period. The worldwide gross of $7.7 million against a $75.6 million budget made ''Gigli'' one of the most expensive box office flops of all time.
Awards and nominations
Legacy
Its title was named by the
Global Language Monitor
The Global Language Monitor (GLM) is a company based in Austin, Texas that collectively documents, analyzes, and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language. It is particularly known for its ...
as one of the top words from Hollywood having an impact on the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
in 2003. Late night talk show hosts in particular lampooned the film in their monologues;
Conan O'Brien said "The
Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
are doing so badly that they will be renamed 'The New York Gigli.'"
Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies (formerly Upcoming Movies), provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Yaho ...
rates ''Gigli'' number one on their ''Bottom Rated Movies of All Time'', with a critics' rating of D−. ''
The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...
'', a
satirical newspaper, ran an article about the film, titled "''Gigli'' focus groups demand new ending in which Affleck and Lopez die."
"Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Virus Alert" from the album ''
Straight Outta Lynwood'' includes the line "make your TV record ''Gigli''" as one of the negative effects of the titular virus.
In May 2015, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' named ''Gigli'' #25 on its list of "50 Worst Movie Titles of All Time".
In a 2013 episode of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'',
Fred Armisen
Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series '' Portlandia''. ...
plays Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad performing as Affleck in a movie parodying the creation of ''Argo'' while Affleck is a member of the filming crew. When asked why he would appear in this film, he responded "I wanted to make a film worse than Gigli".
See also
*
List of films considered the worst
The films listed below have been cited by a variety of notable critics in varying media sources as being among the worst films ever made. Examples of such sources include Metacritic, Roger Ebert's list of most-hated films, ''The Golden Turkey ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
2003 films
2003 romantic comedy films
2000s American films
2000s crime comedy films
2000s English-language films
American crime comedy films
American romantic comedy films
Columbia Pictures films
Films directed by Martin Brest
Films scored by John Powell
Films set in Los Angeles
Films shot in Los Angeles
Golden Raspberry Award winning films
Mafia comedy films
Revolution Studios films
Romantic crime films