American Gigolo

Plot

Julian Kay is a high-end male escort in Los Angeles whose clientele consists primarily of upper-class, older women. His profession supports—and requires—an expensive taste in material possessions, affording him tailored clothing, a luxurious apartment in Westwood, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible. Although he takes pride in his work, his profession leaves him emotionally detached and unable to form meaningful romantic relationships.

Julian's procurer, Anne, sends him on an assignment with a wealthy widow, Mrs. Dobrun, who is visiting town and staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Afterwards, he goes to the hotel's bar and approaches Michelle Stratton, believing her to be a potential client. Although the two are mutually attracted to one another, Michelle reveals that she is the wife of prominent U.S. Senator Charles Stratton and that she knows that Julian is a male escort. Seeking to avoid further entanglement, Julian leaves.

Pimp Leon James, with whom Julian occasionally collaborates on high-paying assignments, asks him as a favor to substitute for another escort on a job in Palm Springs. There, wealthy financier Mr. Rheiman instructs Julian to engage in sadomasochistic sex with his wife, Judy, while he watches. The following day, Julian berates Leon for sending him on a "rough trick" and reiterates that he refuses kink or same-sex assignments. Leon warns Julian that the wealthy, older women he serves will eventually discard him without hesitation.

At midnight, Michelle seeks Julian out at his apartment, where the two have sex. Although Michelle offers to pay for his services, Julian declines. The two quickly begin a romantic relationship, during which Julian encourages Michelle to reconsider her loveless marriage, while Michelle offers him the emotional intimacy he has long lacked.

Julian soon learns that Judy Rheiman has been murdered, prompting Los Angeles Police Department Detective Joe Sunday to repeatedly question him and uncover inconsistencies in his account. Despite being with another client, Lisa Williams, on the night of the murder, she refuses to provide Julian with an alibi in order to protect her marriage. As he becomes the prime suspect, Senator Stratton warns him to end his relationship with Michelle, even offering him money to do so. Julian refuses, but Stratton nevertheless orders Michelle to leave for Rome until his election campaign is over.

Convinced that he is being framed, Julian frantically searches his apartment before discovering Judy's stolen jewelry hidden in his Mercedes. Going into hiding, his carefully cultivated lifestyle begins to unravel as his appearance deteriorates and he abandons his Mercedes for a cheap rental. Seeking Anne's help at Perino's, Julian is rebuffed after missing an important assignment. While there, he notices Michelle watching him. Though she offers her support, he urges her to leave him for her own safety.

Julian concludes that Leon and Mr. Rheiman are framing him and that another of Leon's gigolos committed the murder. He goes to Leon's apartment to confront him, but Leon refuses to help. In a fit of rage, Julian pushes Leon from the apartment balcony. Julian immediately regrets his actions and attempts to save Leon, but Leon falls to his death.

With no one left to corroborate his claims, Julian is jailed to await a highly publicized trial for Judy's murder. Against Julian's advice, Michelle ultimately provides him with an alibi by telling police that she was with him on the night of Judy's murder, sacrificing her marriage and reputation to save him. During a jail visit, Julian and Michelle profess their love to each other.

Production

Paul Schrader first conceived of the idea for the film while teaching screenwriting at UCLA's film and television department. The script was one of five screenplays Schrader wrote in 1976. Schrader commented, "The character in 'Taxi Driver' was compulsively nonsexual. The character in 'American Gigolo' is compulsively sexual. He is a man who receives his identity by giving sexual pleasure but has no concept of receiving sexual pleasure."

John Travolta was originally attached to the lead role, with his casting announced by the Los Angeles Times in January 1978. Travolta was provided a wardrobe by Giorgio Armani and appeared in a photo spread for the trade publication Variety announcing his participation. The following year, Travolta dropped out of the production to deal with his mother's death and father's illness.

In Travolta's absence, Barry Diller of Paramount Pictures offered the part of Julian Kay to Christopher Reeve, but Reeve turned down the million-dollar offer. Chevy Chase was also offered the role but declined. Schrader offered the part to his first choice, Richard Gere, who accepted. Gere was cast two weeks before shooting began. In 2012, Gere said he was drawn to the role partly because of its gay subtext, commenting,

I read it and I thought, 'This is a character I don't know very well. I don't own a suit. He speaks languages; I don't speak any languages. There's kind of a gay thing that's flirting through it and I didn't know the gay community at all.' I wanted to immerse myself in all of that and I had literally two weeks. So I just dove in.

This is not the only role Travolta turned down only to be taken by Gere: it had happened with Days of Heaven (1978) and occurred again when Travolta was offered the lead in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and Chicago (2002). Gere's brief nude scenes marked the first time a major Hollywood actor was frontally nude in a film. According to Gere, the nudity was not in the original script.

It was just in the natural process of making the movie. I certainly felt vulnerable, but I think it's different for men than women.

Soundtrack

The film's musical score was composed by Giorgio Moroder, who was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. The main theme song of the film is "Call Me" performed by Blondie. The song was written by Moroder and Blondie vocalist Debbie Harry, and became a huge worldwide success in 1980. It peaked at number one in several countries including the US and the UK, and became the highest-selling single of 1980 in the United States. In 1981, the song was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Moroder and Harry further shared a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Reception

Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, writing, "The whole movie has a winning sadness about it; take away the story's sensational aspects and what you have is a study in loneliness." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also awarded 3.5 stars out of 4 and called it "an honest, compelling drama that sheds a little light in some beguilingly dark places." Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote in a negative review that writer-director Schrader "is awfully good at establishing inarticulate, unknowing, self-deluding characters, but he's much less effective when it comes to shepherding these characters through the contingencies of the melodrama that is supposed to ennoble them or, at least, to reveal their unsuspected moral resources." Variety faulted the film for an "evasiveness at its core", finding a "moral and emotional ambivalence" in Gere's character "which makes caring about his predicament and ultimate fate difficult." Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times was also negative, calling the film "such an improbable tissue of fantasies and dime-novel borrowings that from moment to moment it seems to be making fun of itself, although the joke is disguised perfectly." Roger Angell of The New Yorker wrote that the film "presents a humorless, Penthouse kind of sex, all dolled up with expensive 'real' settings, foreign cars, hi-fi sets, and designer clothes, but barely alive at its glum, soft core."

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 33 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "While Paul Schrader's clinical direction and Richard Gere's muted performance don't stir much passion, American Gigolo succeeds as a stylish character study."

Television series

The film was adapted into a television series starring Jon Bernthal as Julian Kaye. It premiered on Showtime on September 11, 2022. In January 2023, the series was canceled after one season.