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In Gigli, Ben Affleck plays a small-time hood
named Gigli who finds himself with the task of “getting and obtaining” the brother of a
certain U.S. Attorney in New York. There are a few obstacles—since the brother has a
mental condition, and Gigli is not known for his own competence. So here’s where Jennifer
Lopez enters the story as Ricki, the lesbian gangster hired to make sure that Gigli
doesn’t screw things up.
The story might have had a chance here, but the
screenwriter and the director dropped the ball. Affleck doesn’t seem to know how to play
his role of tough guy, and his performance comes off loud and boorish. The closest that I
came to sympathizing with him was the fact that no one seemed to pronounce “Gigli”
correctly.
Justin Bartha plays the role of Brian, the brother that Gigli
kidnaps. My problem with Bartha is that he tries too hard to imitate Dustin Hoffman’s
character from Rain Man. Instead of being convincing, his performance merely
grates on the nerves.
On the flip side, there are a few performances worth
seeing in this film. Lopez does well with what she’s given, and smaller roles filled by
Christopher Walken, Lanie Kazan, and Al Pacino make the DVD worth renting just to watch
them work.
The only thing that the DVD offers in terms of extras is the
trailers for Gigli, Anaconda, Maid in
Manhattan, and Mona Lisa Smile.
Grade: C- (movie) C-
(disc)
