This is a post I currently made on IMDb - concerning more "Gigli". Lol. It was inspired by a poster who hated the movie, called it one of the worst, and a few months later admitted he finally actually watched it and really liked it.
Why do ALL the critics that hated 'Gigli' have the same reasons and without any additional comments onto
why they feel that way?
Hopelessly misconceived exercise in celebrity self-worship. - A.O. Scott, New York Times
How so? It was not a pet project for Affleck and Lopez, they didn't get together until during filming. And before they began production, Halle Berry was signed to play Lopez's part. Where is this worship you say?
There's virtually no story, no conflict, no tension and no suspense, just the endless droning of the worst dialogue written in recent memory. -Bill Muller, Arizona Replublic
Does anybody realize
Gigli isn't about a plot? It's about the people involved. And I still want to hear a valid reason why the dialogue is horrible. It's not. It fits the film's themes and morals on sexual design and masculine aggression.
The script is utterly predictable, right up to the ‘see if you can convert the lesbian’ element, and I’ve got to wonder how firm Ricki’s lesbian leanings are if she can be made to waver by a goof like Gigli. This guy has nothing to offer other than a tattoo and an overblown sense of himself, yet somehow Ricki is won over. It just doesn’t add up. But nothing does here. We’re to believe that this whole plot would unfold without the mob boss even knowing about it, and that kidnappers would actually take their prisoner to restaurants and all over town like he’s a visiting cousin. And then, of course, there’s the question of why the thugs would get squeamish when it comes time to cause some harm to their ‘package.’ They’ve never hurt anyone before? Isn’t that their job? - Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
Two comments here...
They are NOT killers! Larry is working for a mob, he is very untrained and new to it all, but tries to overtly show-off what is not true. Ricki is a contracter, she is not a killer, or apart of the mob. She is there to keep an eye on Larry, simple as that.
And the fact that many like to believe Larry "coverted" Ricki - how is that? She is totally not in love with him. He's in love with her, and she understands his sexual issues and she teases and plays with him about it. She's helping him overcome this fear in his sexual self. At the end, she does not become straight. And the sex scene is not as much a love scene as it is a teaching. Ricki is showing Larry where he fits at, on a soft feminine side, as opposed to the gender role and he completely shows himself off as. Watch the sex scene - its about dominance, not love.
It's a sorry statement, when the actor that has the most subtle performance is the kid with Tourette's. - themoviechicks.com
Apparently the film's theme of masculine aggression flew over your head...
Once you get past the staggering question of who gave this thing the green light, Gigli actually turns into a uniquely bad movie that yields real laughter. - Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News
Did it ever occur to you that the film was supposed to be a comedy? (There are many reviews that state negatives that the film is funny.)
J.Lo's infamous 'turkey time' line is pretty awful. - Dan Fazio, Citysearch
Obviously, you don't realize that in terms of sexual design of human beings, playful, silly banter is sometimes involved. That line is a play on that, and it was not meant to be unintentionally funny. Watch Larry's reaction when Ricki says it. She's, once again, teasing him over his male aggression.
Guys, I'm telling you: Don't go to this movie! It's Chasing Amy with guns! You're walking into a trap! - Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Funny you mention it since
Chasing Amy isn't about male aggression and gender roles and is a romantic comedy, as opposed to
Gigli's dramedy. And guns? What movie did you see? They are mobsters, but there's only one scene with a gun that comes 90 minutes into the movie and lasts no longer than a minute.
There was more wrong with this unconventional romantic comedy than right.
It's NOT a romantic comedy. The hoopla over Affleck and Lopez's tabloid crazy relationship resulted in the studio branding it a romantic comedy. But it's not, and anybody who sees the movie knows that. Those who call it one either seen an entirely different movie, or joined the hater bandwagon.
Has no story, no redeeming characters that anyone could care about, and the actors are all on autopilot, completely soaked with their own vanity. - David Grove, Film Threat
Once again, there was never meant to be any plot; and the character aren't supposed to be likable. On autopilot and soaking in their own vanity? Once again - this was NOT a vanity project as most believe. Lopez didn't even join the film until the last minute, and didn't make their relationship known until the film was practically done. The STUDIO made it SEEM like a vanity romantic comedy.
Formless windbag of a romantic comedy with bits of gangster flick stuck to the edges. - Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly
Between suicidal stalking ex-lovers and homoerotic roster changes, the balance of the romantic comedy genre has never been more confused as to which side had less weight. - Erik Childress, eCritic.com
Does EVERYBODY think it is a romantic comedy?
This could have been a more intriguing and darker tale. Evil people can fall in love, too . . . but, gosh, this isn't that movie. Ben and Jen are just too cute for nasty roles like that. - Gerry Shamray, Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
What exactly are you saying? Earlier in the review you stated how the characters were too unlikable and now you are drawing negatives to how they aren't unlikable enough?? Bandwagon, perhaps?
And I read onto about 80% of the other reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and most of the critics are either calling the film a romantic comedy. Call the characters unlikable. Claim the dialogue is unbelievable. And taking punches at it like they are all trying to see who can make the best joke about it. One review says: "It's a rigli rigli bad movie." And yet, none of them say anything different? However, the good reviews for it make sense. And its funny, because they don't see the film as a romantic comedy like most of everyone else did.
What has its own studio running scared and many of our more doltish critics crowing is the fact that, instead of some glossy, b.o-targeted Hollywood romantic caper, this is a very small-scale character study, a close American studio approximation to a European art film or psyche-driven indie. -David Noh, filmjournal.com
Amen. It is NOT the film the studio and venomous reviews have you believe.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have more character shades and depth than is the norm for the genre, and they delight in the showy and witty dialogue they get to speak. The ending is idealistic and not completely believable, but it also works, in spite of the reasons it shouldn't, because it earns it. "Gigli" may not be a life-changing motion picture, but it is always likable. Most of all, and most importantly, it has a good heart. - Dustin Putman, themovieboy.com
You are right. It earns its ending because of the message involved. It's not a romance, so its not going to have that romantic ending every Hollywood rom-com has. It's a character study. And while the characters are unlikable, the heart is in the right place, and it realism to character is what makes it so naturally understanding with the themes it has presented throughout the entire film. Sexual design, masculine aggression, and the social outlook on it.
Let's say you decided to make a movie much like "My Dinner With Andre," except putting a ravishing Latina in the Andre Gregory role and giving the Wallace Shawn part to a handsome hunk of oak, and making the characters small-time hoods, and adding Tarantino touches from "True Romance" and hints of Hallstrom from "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," yet making the key thematic element an investigation of a very kind of Sun Tze war between the sexes. What might you call it? In this case, you'd call it "Gigli" (pronounced...well, geez, say it however you like; one can expect this at least to be the most mispronounced movie of the year). You might also call it one of the least expected movies of the year, one that is likely to leave some theatre attendees nigh on enthralled--count this as from one of those--and have others escaping to the exits. - Kim Williamson, boxoffice.com
I agree. It's not what the studio promoted it as, so many are going to go in expecting something different (or expecting to hate it with bias) when really, it is a simple character study with heavy, heavy dialogue and wit over sexuality.
It's one of the most probing comedies in recent memory, a progressive step forward for mainstream American film's attitudes about gender roles, and a truly touching deconstruction of masculine aggression. Perhaps more than any other movie this year, enjoyment of Gigli required the viewer to forget the hype. If you're willing to remove the word "Bennifer" from your vocabulary before you view it, you might be pleasantly surprised. hough Gigli is unlikely to be rediscovered by future generations as a lost masterpiece, I can’t help but imagine it will be evaluated more kindly by those who aren’t caught up in the present day tabloid zeitgeist. Because of its humble proficiency, seriousness of intent and sexual adventurousness, it’s become the unfortunate pariah of a film culture that expects Hollywood to turn out only gee-whiz showiness and superficial plays at emotion. It’s an ambitious film that merits serious consideration, but because of external biases, few seem willing to take it seriously. - Jeremy Heilman, moviemartyr.com
Couldn't have said it better myself!
It's funny, because I was talking to a guy on IMDB's Oscar Buzz board about how I loved
Gigli, and he said he hated it; adding on that he felt it was one of the worst movies he had ever seen. I asked for his reason? "It's a stupid romantic comedy with hammy dialogue, and it won many Razzies." Okay... whatever.
I mean, I respected his opinion on it, until a few months later, I ran by the same guy on the
Gigli message board on IMDb. He made a post stating: how he likes it now that he watched it, and how he regrets making fun of it and calling it one of the worst before
actually seeing it.
WHY hate or love a film you never saw? It makes no sense to me. It what's even more bizarre how it all works out with the movie. There is nobody in my actual life that I know who didn't love the film after watching it. It's funny because almost all of them are those that avoid reviews and awards, etc. But when it came to my grandpa (who heard it was the worst movie ever by a critic on our local news station) he hated it. "How can you love that movie, Douglas," he said. "When the guy on TV said it was the worst ever?" And I replied: "I'm not that guy on TV." He looked at me, shook his head, and didn't say a word...
Comments?
