Turturro film set in Jewish Brooklyn features Woody Allen
By ALAN SMASON
“Fading Gigolo,” a controversial film written, starring and directed by John Tuturro was first shown at festivals in 2013, but never made it into wide release. It stars a familiar Jewish face: Woody Allen, who for the first time in a very long time agreed to be an actor in someone else’s film and not the director behind the camera lens or the writer of his own screenplay.
Woody Allen, left, stars in John Turturro's film "Fading Gigolo." (Photo courtesy Millenium Entertainment)
Tuturro, who many will recall from the film “Barton Fink,” plays Fioravanti, a shy florist turned into a gigolo. As the screenwriter and director, however, Turturro was successful in getting Allen to play Murray, a role Allen has played many times before, that of a neurotic Jewish New Yorker. The setting is the haredi community of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and part of the plot deals with the insular members of the Orthodox community who live there.
Other big name stars, who lined up to play roles in this small, independent film were Sofîa Vergara (“Modern Family”), Liev Schrieber and Sharon Stone.
Fioravanti is recruited by Murray, a bookseller going out of business, to be his dermatologist Dr. Parker’s (Stone) and her girlfriend Selima’s (Vergara) sex partner in a menage-a-trois. Murray, who is looking to make some money on the deal, has offered the services of his friend without even regarding whether he is interested.
As it turns out Fioravanti is more than interested and more than a little talented as a gigolo. He and Murray split the proceeds with Murray impressed that he has earned more money than required. “She must have really liked you,” he gasps.
Murray (Woody Allen) is manhandled by Dovi (Liev Schreiber) in the controversial film "Fading Gigolo." (Photo courtesy Millennium Entertainment)
Murray takes his cut and states that the money exchange makes it official, acknowledging it is “the oldest profession.”
Soon, client after client means that Murray and Fioravanti, are starting to make barrel loads of cash. Murray, who lives with a black bartender and her four children, sees opportunity when he meets an Orthodox widow, Avigal (Vanessa Paradis) and a mother of six, whose rabbi husband has died two years earlier and now craves physical intimacy.
The controversial nature of the exchanges between Fioravanti and his clients as well as the indelicacy of placing him in close personal contact with an observant Jewish widow gave the film a less-than-wholesome rating with many who saw and reviewed it.
This all catches the attention of a local shomrim (neighborhood watch officer) Dovi (Schreiber), who suspects Murray is up to no good with the widow, especially when he sees Murray pacing outside the florist’s apartment. It turns out Dovi is interested in Avigal too.
Meanwhile, the plot thickens as Avigal becomes a “client” of Fioravanti, at first refusing to even shake his hand. Later, she abandons her propriety, much to the dismay of her community members and a beit din (rabbinical court) is convened to make an inquiry into the matter.
While Stone and Vergara are a bit two-dimensional, Paradis delivers a solid performance as a woman in need of companionship, but is unable to act on her desires because of having to maintain propriety and expected norms. Dovi finally pushes her character of Avigal to tell him about her feelings, which she is reluctant to do.
Some of the funniest moments in the film deal with Murray being kidnapped and confronted by the beit din members. Allen proves once again that he is a more than fitting subject for the camera lens when it comes to being the comic relief in a movie.
Turturro plays the gigolo with compassion. He reminds the viewer that he is providing a service for the women and only does what they want him to do when they are ready and comfortable with it. His character is always charming and respectful to a fault.
Although many parts of the movie are adult in nature, it has many aspects that redeem it as an honest depiction of the human condition. Turturro succeeds both as an actor and as a director on this, his fifth outing as such.
“Fading Gigolo” runs at the Theaters at Canal Place, 333 Canal Street now through Thursday, May 15. To buy tickets, click here. The film is rated R for adult situations and language. Check the website for times.
