Taglines: Murder. Blackmail. Temptation. Redemption. It’s been a busy week.
A lowly thug, Gigli, is assigned to kidnap the psychologically challenged younger brother of a powerful federal prosecutor to save his mobster boss from incarceration. Staked-out in his one-bedroom apartment with his kidnap victim, Brian.
Gigli soon realizes that what he thought would be a routine assignment soon becomes a tumultuous task. Ricki, a gorgeous, free-spirited female gangster is sent to assist Gigli with the kidnapping because his boss does not think that Gigli is up to the job. But when his feelings for the decidedly unavailable Ricki begin to grow, and he actually becomes concerned for Brian, tough guy Gigli begins to transform into an actual human being…which considering his profession could be a very dangerous occupation.
Gigli is an American romantic comedy film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Christopher Walken, Todd Giebenhain, Brian Sites, Lenny Venito, Luis Alberto Martínez, Brian Casey, Les Bradford and Lainie Kazan.
Gigli grossed $3,753,518 in its opening weekend from 2,215 theaters averaging $1,694 per theater and ranking #8 at the box office. The film set a record to date for the biggest second-weekend drop in box office gross of any film in wide release since that statistic was kept; it dropped by 81.9% in its second weekend compared to its first, grossing $678,640. By its third weekend in release, only 73 US theaters were showing it, a 97% drop from its first weekend. The film ultimately earned $6,087,542 domestically and $1,178,667 internationally for a total of $7,266,209 on a $75.6 million production budget.
The film was withdrawn from US theaters after only three weeks (one of the shortest circulation times for a big-budget film), earning a total of only $6 million domestically and $1 million abroad. In the United Kingdom, the film was dropped by virtually every cinema after critics panned.
About the Story
Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck) is a low-ranking Los Angeles mobster who isn’t nearly as tough as he likes to act. He is commanded to kidnap the mentally challenged younger brother of a powerful federal prosecutor to save New York-based mob boss Starkman (Al Pacino) from prison.
Gigli successfully convinces the young man, Brian (Justin Bartha), to go off with him by promising to take him “to the Baywatch”, which seems to be Brian’s singular obsession, and turns out to just be the beach. The man who ordered the kidnapping, Louis (Lenny Venito), does not trust Gigli to get the job done right, so he hires a woman calling herself Ricki (Jennifer Lopez) to take charge.
Gigli is attracted to Ricki, but he resents the fact that Louis does not have faith in him and that he has to take orders from a woman. He is also frustrated by Brian’s insistence on going to “the Baywatch” and by Ricki’s being a lesbian. A suspicious detective (Christopher Walken) comes to the apartment to question Gigli, who is further annoyed when his mother (Lainie Kazan) takes an immediate liking to Ricki, both of them needling him.
The events take a darker turn when Gigli and Ricki receive orders to cut off Brian’s thumb, something neither wants to do. Worse, Ricki’s girlfriend, Robin (Missy Crider), shows up at Gigli’s apartment, accusing her of cheating. She slits her wrists and has to be rushed to the hospital. While at the hospital, Gigli goes to the morgue and cuts off a corpse’s thumb, which he sends to his boss as Brian’s thumb. Gigli and Ricki go back to his apartment where Gigli confesses his love, and the two sleep together.
They are summoned to meet with the mob’s boss. Starkman reveals that he didn’t approve of the plan to kidnap a federal prosecutor’s brother and scolds them because the thumb they sent won’t match Brian’s fingerprint; he then kills Louis. Starkman is about to kill Ricki and Gigli as well, but Ricki talks him out of it.
They decide to take Brian back to where they found him. On the way, they discover Baywatch (or a similarly themed show or film) shooting an episode on the beach. They leave a happy Brian there. At the last minute, Ricki decides to leave town with Gigli, and finally reveals her real name – Rochelle.
Gigli (2003)
Directed by: Martin Brest
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Christopher Walken, Todd Giebenhain, Brian Sites, Lenny Venito, Luis Alberto Martínez, Brian Casey, Les Bradford
Screenplay by: Martin Brest
Production Design by: Gary Frutkoff
Cinematography by: Robert Elswit
Film Editing by: Julie Monroe, Billy Weber
Costume Design by: Michael Kaplan
Set Decoration by: Maggie Martin
Music by: John Powell
MPAA Rating: R for sexual content, pervasive language and brief strong violence.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: August 1, 2003
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