Retrospective Review: ‘American Gigolo’ ︱A Well-Crafted, Melancholic Thriller That Fails to Maintain its Suspense

For all its cheesiness and old-fashioned tropes, American Gigolo’s charm can be found in its slow, languid movements, as Julian (Richard Gere) casually captivates his clients and breezily navigates through a world of seduction and intrigue. Gere faced some criticism for playing into Julian’s aloofness and detachment from other people, but even if it doesn’t always match the sexual appeal and lustre the character is supposed to have, it amplifies the film’s melancholic tone.

Julian might be a master at seducing women, but it seems to come at the cost of the rest of his life. He says just as much to Michelle (Lauren Hutton) when she wants him to open up about himself. Even though he’s no pushover to his two pimps, Anne (Nina van Pallandt) and Leon (Bill Duke), he spends his time outside of his work attuning himself to his clients’ expensive tastes, while devoting his working hours to his their needs.

Even though it brings him no pleasure, Julian seems to view sex, and everything that anticipates it, as his personal art form, where he’s spent years honing and perfecting his craft. The film maintains its seductiveness by constantly concealing what audiences want to see. By never showing us any sex (or, at least, anything graphic or…