Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Gigli

This is topic Gigli in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-01-2003, 11:07 PM:

I haven't seen this movie (yet), but the synopsis really seems pretentious to an obscene degree. A couple of mob assassins (played by two pop culture sex symbols) play cat and mouse with each other and wind up falling in love. I guess this is another one of those pictures that promote bad people as being both cool and sexy. It's not enough for someone to be good looking, but they have to kill some people to be "interesting."

Is the film as bad as the reviews make it out to be?

I also notice no one has brought up "Prizzi's Honor" as a comparison. Granted Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner both play mob assassins that end up falling in love. However, both are not one-dimensional sex symbols. And the story goes in the direction of their dark lives having a pretty dark outcome. That John Huston flick at least shows there's a price to pay for that kind of lifestyle instead of just making it look fun and cool --which is what I kind of expect from "Gigli."

Why is Martin Brest making this kind of movie anyway? He made "Beverly Hills Cop," "Midnight Run" and "Scent of a Woman" (all very good films). Did "Meet Joe Black" demote him to only making star vehicle crap?

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 08-03-2003, 01:20 AM:

So nobody has the guts to review the film huh? Not too suprising considering that we only had 6 customers for this film today (the day after it opened). I think that Master of Disguise did better. Can't wait for the Razzies to come out next year. Can someone say sweep?

Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 08-04-2003, 05:03 AM:

Wow, 6 customers! Did better than us.
What a piece. This doesn't need to happen. Bad, bad, very bad cinema. Sell this crap to Showtimes first. We won't miss it from our screens!

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 08-04-2003, 07:01 PM:

I have not seen this film, but on the news, it is said that this film earned a whopping $3.5 mil over the weekend. WHAT A PROFIT [Big Grin]

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 08-05-2003, 05:53 AM:

According to USA TODAY, the film cost a whopping 53 million dollars.

WHERE THE HELL DID THAT MONEY GO ANYWAY!!

Dave

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 08-05-2003, 07:20 AM:

The reviews at least are entertaining...

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Gigli-1124237/

Posted by Andrew Lee (Member # 1330) on 08-05-2003, 11:31 AM:

By the sounds of it, animated fish would be more entertaining and profitable......hey wait a minute!

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 08-05-2003, 01:25 PM:

Sorry I just had to post this:

Gigli Focus Groups Demand New Ending In Which Both
Affleck And Lopez Die

HOLLYWOOD, CA—Focus groups at advance screenings for Gigli, a romantic comedy starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez set to open nationwide July 30, have demanded a new ending in which both stars die "in as brutal a manner as possible," sources at Sony Pictures said Tuesday.

"The movie is pretty good, I guess," read one comment card from a test-screening audience in Culver City, CA. "I liked the Al Pacino character, but I had a hard time buying Jennifer Lopez as a lesbian. I also really, really wanted [Affleck and Lopez's characters] Larry and Ricki to die, to get shot or blown up or run over by something. I would prefer to see the blood and the looks on their faces."
On Monday, 3,000 people in markets as varied as Dallas, Chicago, Albany, Atlanta, and Seattle screened Gigli, a gangster-themed romantic comedy written and directed by Martin Brest, in which lowly thug Affleck lets his love for hitwoman Lopez get in the way of a high-risk mob assignment. Of those viewers, 2,965 "strongly agreed" that the ending should be changed to include a graphic scene in which its main characters die.

"Many participants wrote 'shot to death' in the space provided for comments, probably thinking that it fit in with the gangster characters' stated realities," Columbia Pictures director of marketing Peter Zitterman said. "Some comments showed a lot of careful thought, such as 'point blank through head from right side,' 'both at once with single shot from elephant gun,' and 'several hundred times, with multiple camera angles showing their bodies jerking as they're shredded with a heavy hosing of lead, spraying the lens with gobbets of meat and bone and blood, with the sheer number of fist-sized exit wounds obviously precluding any sequel.' And shootings weren't the only ideas suggested, believe me."

According to the exit cards, other popular methods of achieving Lopez and Affleck's on-screen demise included car bombs, multiple stab wounds, acid baths, rabid wolf attacks, lightning strikes, and, in one case, a "hammer party."

"We never expected this kind of reaction," Zitterman said. "We've had odd results from focus groups before, but I don't recall an audience ever agreeing on such a sweeping change. If only we had done this survey in pre-production."

Although the various test audiences differed on the preferred methods of death, they seemed unanimous on one point.

"We were very surprised at how many viewers thought that, no matter what, Affleck and Lopez should not be entwined in a romantic embrace at the time of their deaths," Zitterman said. "Everyone was perfectly clear on that."

Although Brest said he is satisfied with the final cut of Gigli, he briefly considered incorporating some of the test audience's ideas into the film.

"The danger here is succumbing to what people in the business call 'option paralysis'—being caught with so many good ideas that you're not sure which one to use," Brest said. "Getting shot is fine, but what about an automobile fire in which Ben and Jennifer are shown perishing in a slow-motion montage, their newfound love discarded as they try desperately to claw their way past each other's melting bodies, while slowly roasting to death in their own fat? You'd be surprised at how many people came up with that one. Or having them crawl through a field of broken glass while a safely booted and gloved Christopher Walken casually advances on them with a spray bottle of acid and a pair of bolt-cutters? I must say, a part of me loves the idea of them chewing each other to death during a 14-minute dolly shot."

Added Brest: "Believe me, after the singular experience of working with these two for several months, it would be a joy to get back together just to make these changes."

Even if time were not prohibitive, Columbia executives remained skeptical about the validity of the focus-group results.

"I find it hard to believe that audiences would harbor hostility toward such major media figures as J. Lo and Ben," Zitterman said. "With her magazine covers, clothing and perfume lines, and constant radio presence; his roles in Daredevil and Project Greenlight; and their recent joint appearances on Dateline NBC and numerous entertainment shows, how could anyone wish for anything but a resolution that unites these two attractive, highly visible celebrities?"

Insiders confirm that time constraints will prevent the much-requested death-scene additions to Gigli, which already underwent several days of fine-tuning when earlier focus groups noted a lack of romantic chemistry from the real-life couple. In light of the results, however, director Kevin Smith has said he will consider adding a gruesome double homicide to his Affleck-Lopez comedy Jersey Girl, due in theaters next year.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-05-2003, 03:03 PM:

If they really wanted to try and make some of their money back, they would get the cast back together and reshoot the last reel. Perhaps the DVD could have multiple endings. I am a big fan of Martin Brest's movies, but I don't think I could sit through this one from what I've seen without knowing there was going to be a quality ending. [evil]

Posted by Kristin Wahlund (Member # 922) on 08-06-2003, 11:59 PM:

The local movie reviewer here lists the bad and good things about all the movies. For gigli: the bad everything, the good: the exit door.

Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 10-01-2003, 12:00 PM:

Message to the world:

Oh for crying out loud!

What's all the fuss about. I have seen plenty of worse films. Granted it's not a life changing experience or anything like that, but come on. It was perfectly ok.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 12-30-2003, 12:20 AM:

I just rented this movie on DVD as I had no time to watch it in the cinema, and I was curious if it really is as bad as everyone says. It is true - this movie sucks enormously.