| Gigli | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Martin Brest |
| Written by | Martin Brest |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Robert Elswit |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | John Powell |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
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Running time | 121 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $75.6 million[2] |
| Box office | $7.2 million[3] |
Gigli (/ˈʒiːli/ZHEE-lee)[4] is a 2003 Americanromantic comedycrime film written, co-produced, and directed byMartin Brest, and starringBen Affleck,Jennifer Lopez,Justin Bartha,Al Pacino,Christopher Walken, andLainie Kazan.
Despite popular media giving attention to and interest in the film during production (primarily because stars Affleck and Lopez were romantically involved),Gigli was universally panned, and in subsequent years, it has been considered one of theworst films of all time. It is also one of themost expensive box-office bombs in history, grossing $7.2 million against a $75.6 million budget. It is the last film that Brest ever directed.
Larry Gigli is a low-ranking Los Angeles mobster who is not nearly as tough as he pretends. Louis, a higher-ranking member of Gigli's organization, commands him tokidnap thementally challenged younger brother of a powerfulfederal prosecutor, 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 with him by promising to take him "to the Baywatch", apparently a reference to thetelevision show, which seems to be Brian's singular obsession. Louis does not trust Gigli to get the job done correctly, so he hires a woman who calls herself Ricki to take charge.
Gigli is attracted to Ricki, but he resents both Louis's 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 that Ricki is alesbian.
Events take a dark turn when Gigli and Ricki receive orders to cut off Brian's thumb, something neither wants to do. At a hospital, Gigli sneaks into the morgue and cuts off a corpse's thumb, which he sends to the prosecutor as Brian's. Gigli and Ricki return to his apartment, where he confesses his love, and they consummate their relationship.
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 nor to cut off Brian's thumb. Nevertheless, he is angry because it did not match Brian'sfingerprint. Therefore, it not only failed to increase pressure on the prosecutor, but also undermined their credibility.
Starkman 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 that 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 returning Brian to where they found him. On the way, they notice aBaywatch-like music video that is being filmed on the beach. Brian begs to be let off there and, after some convincing, they consent. Gigli convinces Ricki to take his car to escape, but at the last minute, she returns to pick him up, and they leave town together.
Halle Berry was invited to be the female lead before dropping out due to scheduling conflicts with her filmX2. She was replaced with Jennifer Lopez, who signed in late 2001 for a reported $12 million.[5]Adam Brody auditioned for the role of Brian.[6]
Gigli began shooting in Los Angeles on December 10, 2001.[7] The original ending featured Gigli being killed, but after negative response to a test screening, the ending was re-shot and edited.[8][9] In a 2023 interview inVariety, Martin Brest said:
Extensive disagreements between the studio and myself got to the point where post-production was shut down for eight months while we battled it out. In the end I was left with two choices: quit or be complicit in the mangling of the movie. To my eternal regret I didn't quit, so I bear responsibility for a ghastly cadaver of a movie. Once key scenes were cut it became like a joke with its punchline removed, endless contortions could never create the illusion that what remained was intended. Extensive reshooting and re-editing turned characters, scenes, story and tone upside down in the futile attempt to make the increasing mess resemble a movie. For the first time in my career I had become a true collaborator — not in the benign, creative sense, but rather that of one who, in violation of their true allegiances, cooperates with occupying forces. And for that kind of compromise, self-castigations far exceed any possible public ones.[10]
The film was released in theaters on August 1, 2003.
Gigli grossed $3,753,518 during its opening weekend in 2,215 theaters, averaging $1,694 per theater and ranking #8 at the box office. The negative response led the studio to pull the advertisements for the film and replace them with another of their releases,Bad Boys II.[11]
At the time, the film set a record for the biggestsecond-weekend drop in box-office gross of any film in wide release since the statistic began being recorded. It dropped by 81.9% in its second weekend compared to its first, grossing $678,640.[12] 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.[2]
After its third week, it was withdrawn, one of the shortest circulation times for a big-budget film.[13] In the UK, the film was dropped by virtually every cinema after critics panned it.Gigli was stated to be a major part inSony Pictures losing $42 million in the quarter of its release, although the studio had the successfulBad Boys II andS.W.A.T. during the same period.[14] The worldwide gross of $7.7 million against a $75.6 million budget madeGigli one of the most expensivebox-office flops of all time.[15]
Gigli was panned by critics. OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 6%, based on 185 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."[16] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 18 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[17] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D−" on a scale of A+ to F.[18]
OnEbert and Roeper, criticsRoger Ebert andRichard Roeper of theChicago Sun-Times both gave the film a thumbs down, although Ebert showed some sympathy toward the film, stating that 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 includedGigli on his list of the 100 worst films of the decade, at #7.[19]
Ebert andJames Berardinelli were two of the few major critics to not write it off completely.[20] 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 to be "appealing in their performances", and that they "have chemistry". Berardinelli gave it two stars, saying, "This isn't a good film, but, when set alongside the likes ofDumb and Dumberer andLegally Blonde 2, Jen & Ben offer less pain."[21]
Joel Siegel ofGood Morning America awarded the film a "D" rating and stated in his review, "To qualify as a historic failure, a film needs a measure of pretension and allGigli ever wanted to be was a romantic comedy. What it is is a dreadful romantic comedy."[22]
Entertainment Weekly'sOwen 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."[23]
One of the few positive reviews came from Amy Dawes ofVariety, 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.[24]
In recent years, the movie has increasingly been re-evaluated by critics. For example, Jason Bailey, in a piece forThe 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."[25]
| Award | Ceremony date | Category | Subject | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Raspberry Awards | February 28, 2004 | Worst Picture | Columbia/Revolution Studios | Won |
| Worst Actor | Ben Affleck, also forDaredevil andPaycheck | Won | ||
| Worst Actress | Jennifer Lopez | Won | ||
| Worst Supporting Actor | Al Pacino | Nominated | ||
| Christopher Walken, also forKangaroo Jack | Nominated | |||
| Worst Supporting Actress | Lainie Kazan | Nominated | ||
| Worst Screen Couple | Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez | Won | ||
| Worst Director | Martin Brest | Won | ||
| Worst Screenplay | Won | |||
| February 26, 2005 | Worst "Comedy" of Our First 25 Years | Won | ||
| March 6, 2010 | Worst Picture of the Decade | Nominated | ||
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards[26] | February 22, 2004 | Worst Film | Nominated | |
| Worst Actor | Ben Affleck, also forDaredevil andPaycheck | Won | ||
| Worst Fake Accent – Male | Ben Affleck | Won | ||
| Worst Actress | Jennifer Lopez | Won | ||
| Worst Fake Accent – Female | Won | |||
| Worst On-Screen Couple | Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez | Won | ||
| Worst Supporting Actor | Justin Bartha | Nominated | ||
| Worst Supporting Actress | Lainie Kazan | Nominated | ||
| Most Intrusive Musical Score | Nominated | |||
| Worst Sense of Direction | Martin Brest | Nominated | ||
| Worst Song | "Baby Got Back" | Nominated | ||
The film's title was named by theGlobal Language Monitor as one of the top words fromHollywood to have an impact on theEnglish language in 2003.[27] In particular, late-night talk-show hosts lampooned the film in their monologues:Conan O'Brien said, "TheMets are doing so badly that they will be renamed 'The New York Gigli'".
In his song "Virus Alert" from his 2006 albumStraight Outta Lynwood,"Weird Al" Yankovic references the film, hyperbolically claiming that a computer virus will "make your TV record Gigli."[28]
Yahoo! Movies ranksGigli at number one on theirBottom Rated Movies of All Time,[29] with a critics' rating of D−.[30]
In May 2015,The Hollywood Reporter rankedGigli #25 on its list of "50 Worst Movie Titles of All Time".[31]
In a 2013 episode ofSaturday Night Live,Fred Armisen plays Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad performing as Affleck in a movie criticizing the creation ofArgo while Affleck (who directed, produced and starred inArgo) is cast as a member of the filming crew. When his character was asked why he would appear in this film, Affleck responded, "I've long been looking to appear in a movie worse thanGigli." Affleck said that the negative reception ofGigli led to his directing career.[32]
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