Rating of
1/4
"Gigli" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 04/10/12
And so I finally make it round to the legendary Gigli, a mob so-called "comedy" that sees Ben Affleck as a misogynistic hitman unwillingly paired with intellectual lesbian hitperson Jennifer Lopez to babysit the mentally impaired brother of a federal prosecutor. The reputation of this cinematic trainwreck has completely preceded it and I must admit I approached the film with a combination of dread and morbid curiosity. And what a mess it truly is. Affleck has never been the most charismatic of actors, but in this he is truly DREADFUL! A thoroughly unlikeable cartoon cut-out who goes through the most unbelievably unconvincing cinematic "growing as a person" motions in the company of Lopez, who plays her part like a guest on the Springer show reading pretentious bullshit off cue cards. All the so-called humour is offensively patronising being virtually solely at the expense of the mentally ill and the script is a series of completely random situations in which the two show absolutely zero chemistry. The attempts at examining gender politics are inane and the only time it raised a laugh from me is when Christopher Walken (who had clearly been smoking crack) appeared with one of the most bizarre performances I've ever seen! It's one of the most cringeworthy cinematic experiences I've ever endured, although I'd have to say it's not the worst because it is almost mesmerising in it's absurdity. To be fair, I only made it through the first hour (and for that I think I deserve a medal) but the only excuse I can think of for watching this embarrassingly poorly written tripe is to see just how bad it really is. Half a star for the film, plus one more for Walken's clearly mindboggling stash of hallucinogens...
