Jim Enright has shot tons of instantly forgettable videos for just about all the major adult companies, so it comes a pleasant surprise when he comes up with something as consistently hot as this. Though the trade papers keep cutting him slack, even bestowing the occasional award for overrated fare like HAUNTED NIGHTS (a tiresome Martin & Lewis take-off with Jonathan Morgan and Steve St. Croix hamming it up mercilessly), one cannot overlook the well-documented fact that this is one of the few pornographers who have little or no interest in sex talk about a handicap ! and freely admit to leaving the set when it's time to shoot the "commercial scenes", leaving the DoP in charge. Praise then to Frank Marino, the man really responsible for the heat in GIGOLO.
Not wanting to dismiss Enright's output altogether, I'll admit that the dramatic moments linking the naughty bits are decently handled even though certain casting decisions seem a bit odd. While an adequate thespian, Tony Tedeschi (Tina Tyler's erstwhile husband) appears far too greasy and unkempt to be credible as the nightclub-owning leader of a band of gigolos, well, three anyway as this is a low budget video ! He does perform admirably though with an imperious Shanna McCullough (who has come a long way since her girl next door early days in movies like Jack Remy's L'AMOUR and GIRLS ON FIRE) with her depraved better half Mike Horner talking them through the varied and scorching action, culminating in a rear entry that'll blow a few minds.
T.T. Boy, another impressive stud, is also way too rough around the edges to make an acceptable toy boy for the rich and famous, which in no way hampers his breathtaking roundelay with blonde, doe-eyed Sindee Coxxx (don't miss her career performance in Paul Thomas' amazing CONTROL) and tattooed brunette Jacklyn Lick, who made a strong impression as Serenity's best friend in Jonathan Morgan's bizarre CRAZED. Ultimately, only suave Peter North who started out doing gay porn as "Matt Ramsey" for Bill Higgins and Matt Sterling seems right at home and here gets to counter-act T.T.'s bluntness twice in a pair of blistering threesomes (obviously this movie's chosen sexual set-up) with Carolina, a Mike Hott amateur discovery also in Rob Black's WAR WHORES, and Jordan Lee (from Gary Graver's excellent THELMA & LOUISE take-off LUST & DESIRE) respectively.
The George Kaplan script seems to have whole chunks left un-filmed just check out Jordan Lee's convoluted back story when she turns up like 15 minutes before the flick's end but still proves largely coherent as it tells the woeful tale of reluctant Hollywood sex worker Tony who entered the flesh-peddling business to support his struggling actress girlfriend Rebecca Lord (very funny as the befuddled psychiatrist in Michael Zen's BLUE MOVIE), now a big screen diva yeah, right, with her accent, was there perhaps a re-surge of silent movies all of a sudden ? who wants nothing more to do with hem. Their passion-filled flashback, the feature's single one on one, turns out to be a real thing of beauty. Like Heidi Fleiss before him, Tony's in possession of a little black book that could really blow the lid off the film-making community's dirty little secrets. Jordan's the mystery woman from his past, hell-bent on revenge. You do the math.
Budgetary restrictions notwithstanding, GIGOLO offers a surprisingly satisfying blend of story and sex, the latter presented with a good deal more nastiness than you'd expect in a basically couples-oriented release.
Not wanting to dismiss Enright's output altogether, I'll admit that the dramatic moments linking the naughty bits are decently handled even though certain casting decisions seem a bit odd. While an adequate thespian, Tony Tedeschi (Tina Tyler's erstwhile husband) appears far too greasy and unkempt to be credible as the nightclub-owning leader of a band of gigolos, well, three anyway as this is a low budget video ! He does perform admirably though with an imperious Shanna McCullough (who has come a long way since her girl next door early days in movies like Jack Remy's L'AMOUR and GIRLS ON FIRE) with her depraved better half Mike Horner talking them through the varied and scorching action, culminating in a rear entry that'll blow a few minds.
T.T. Boy, another impressive stud, is also way too rough around the edges to make an acceptable toy boy for the rich and famous, which in no way hampers his breathtaking roundelay with blonde, doe-eyed Sindee Coxxx (don't miss her career performance in Paul Thomas' amazing CONTROL) and tattooed brunette Jacklyn Lick, who made a strong impression as Serenity's best friend in Jonathan Morgan's bizarre CRAZED. Ultimately, only suave Peter North who started out doing gay porn as "Matt Ramsey" for Bill Higgins and Matt Sterling seems right at home and here gets to counter-act T.T.'s bluntness twice in a pair of blistering threesomes (obviously this movie's chosen sexual set-up) with Carolina, a Mike Hott amateur discovery also in Rob Black's WAR WHORES, and Jordan Lee (from Gary Graver's excellent THELMA & LOUISE take-off LUST & DESIRE) respectively.
The George Kaplan script seems to have whole chunks left un-filmed just check out Jordan Lee's convoluted back story when she turns up like 15 minutes before the flick's end but still proves largely coherent as it tells the woeful tale of reluctant Hollywood sex worker Tony who entered the flesh-peddling business to support his struggling actress girlfriend Rebecca Lord (very funny as the befuddled psychiatrist in Michael Zen's BLUE MOVIE), now a big screen diva yeah, right, with her accent, was there perhaps a re-surge of silent movies all of a sudden ? who wants nothing more to do with hem. Their passion-filled flashback, the feature's single one on one, turns out to be a real thing of beauty. Like Heidi Fleiss before him, Tony's in possession of a little black book that could really blow the lid off the film-making community's dirty little secrets. Jordan's the mystery woman from his past, hell-bent on revenge. You do the math.
Budgetary restrictions notwithstanding, GIGOLO offers a surprisingly satisfying blend of story and sex, the latter presented with a good deal more nastiness than you'd expect in a basically couples-oriented release.