I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Despite having written some of Hollywood's most engaging films (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Cat People), Paul Schrader now takes the director's seat for 1980's drama, "American Gigolo". The film is a slow (very slow at times) paced drama about a young "scort service" man played by a very young Richard Gere, who gets framed in the brutal murder of one of his ex clients and wife to a Palm Springs millionaire. The life of Julian Kay (Richard Gere) is simple: he gives satisfaction to L.A's lonely and rich Hollywood wives while being handsomely paid for it. From the start, I assume something will eventually go wrong. Julian always keeps a distance from his customers by never getting "too involved" in any way with them. One day he gets a call from an old "friend" who begs him to take a job in Palm Springs; a rich couple into kinky and rough sex, with the husband on the peeping Tom side. The husband asks Julian to handcuff his wife and take her from behind and beat her, to which I assume Julian reluctantly obliges before the scene fades out. Soon after it's all over the news that the kinky wife is found murdered and Julian becomes the prime suspect. All this happens as Julian slowly develops a relationship with his new client, Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton), the wife of an up and rising politician. Michelle begins to fall in love with Julian, and he struggles to avoid falling in love too with her."American Gigolo" has a lot going for it, starting with the rousing Blondie hit, "Call Me", which remains as the musical theme throughout the movie. What kills this movie is its decidedly slow pace and bland acting from the young Gere. We know he is a lonely man, doing what does best to get by, but not necessarily liking all of it. When he gets framed for murder, little do we know the reasons behind it and little explanation is given to the audience. The reasons behind Julian's friend Leon (William Duke, from "Predator"), turning on him are really never addressed, except that he was "frameable", which isn't saying much. All we know is that Mrs. Stratton's husband is behind the framing, which is weird, coming from a man who knows before hand his wife cheats on him and doesn't seem to care (on the outside).With all the Hollywood reboots and rehashes going on today, a film like this one could easily be improved upon, perhaps making Julian's past (which we know little from other characters) a bit darker. With "Gigolo" in its title, you'd expect more sex and even by 1980's standards, the sex is pretty restrained. All in all, "American Gigolo" will be best remembered as an early Richard Gere vehicle and the film that featured Blondie's last, enduring hit single, "Call Me".

Watched American Gigolo last night for the first time, and knowing it came first I could spot all sorts of ways it could have influenced things like Thief and Manhunter, and countless others. A big hit movie like this, there's no doubt its influence trickled down. I just love this era, from 79-83, Schrader/Moroder or Mann/Tangerine Dream movies seem to perfectly encapsulate that period for me. It's odd when you watch a movie so long after it was made, you are never sure if you love it for what it is or if nostalgia feeds into it. The Giorgio Moroder and Blondie music is perfectly at home in this movie.Gere is great here in the movie that solidified his fame. This could be one of his best parts, the wounded lost boy, which he also plays in An Officer and a Gentleman. He's an underrated actor but the man rarely has made any career missteps (we won't mention First Knight).A little sleazy but not too much. Worth a look for a perfect time capsule of 1980 if nothing else.

My views on American Gigolo (1980) One of Richard Gere's first and most memorable performances as Julian, a male prostitute. First, i'd like to say that i thought Gere was fantastic as the role of Julian, and was so believable as a mole prostitute. I own this Movie on DVD, and when i was reading the back cover of it, i wasn't too bothered about seeing this movie. But i was going through a fase of watching all these old movies from the 80's and 90s, and this popped up. I knew this was one of Gere's early roles, and i just wanted to watch it to see how young Gere looked. The director of this movie is Paul Schrader, Director of 'Affliction' Starring Nick Nolte, and Writer of Martin Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' One of my all time favourite movies. So when i read that it was Paul Schrader, i had to give it a watch. I was surprised how impressed i was with Gere's performance, he was so captivating on screen, and i just thought that it was a really interesting idea for a film. To be honest, i tend to enjoy most films, but of course some films more than others. This was a film that i enjoyed a lot more than i thought i would. It really shows off Gere's talents as an Actor, and Schrader's talents as a Director.

I had never seen this film and figured it would bore me, but after 36 years it is an historical record of the LA scene. I was enthralled with each street scene, home decor, wardrobe, and hedonistic simplicity just like when I first moved here.Richard still looks better in dress whites but nice to see him sans gray hair. I think the Armani suits were classic but those dark shirts and light silver boots ruined the look imho. He is a very handsome lad and so very wholesome, just what the lady ordered I am guessing.Most of the women they focused on for his tricks were absolutely stunning, why would they have to pay anything was impossible to imagine. Also it was hard to believe the two topless girls did not have huge implants, nice. Back then, $1000 for a 'date' appears to be astronomical, but like women in his profession, probably had to work with some nasty characters. So before AIDS, internet porn, 9/11, crazy RE prices, the lure of LA was sumptuous and hard to resist.I found the script most tedious and un-engaging, but the test of time proved this was just a blip in honor of the preservation of life in LA back in the day.High recommend for those of us who lost their Beta tapes of touring the town and a happy reminder of a simpler life. Beware of nostalgia!