Having never watched the Paul Schrader movie of the same name, I really have nothing to compare the American Gigalo miniseries to. But that’s okay! I think that just lets me give it a fair shake!
The main inspiration for watching this was the fact that I met Jon Bernthal, the titular gigalo, earlier this year. It also helped that Showtime had a sweet Black Friday deal running. That perfect storm means I spent eight hours of my life watching what ended up being more of a crime drama than anything else. Nothing that happened in this show was too much of anything. That neither helped nor hurt it, but ultimately just made it a little bit forgettable. Ask me in a few months about shows I’ve watched this year and I bet I’d have a hard time coming up with this one. In my opinion, everyone did well, they unfortunately had to do well with an average script.
In the show, we first meet Julian Kaye, a prostitute, claiming he doesn’t remember how the woman he was seeing that night ended up dead. Cut to fifteen years later and evidence surfaces that someone else was responsible for the murder, so Julian finally gets released from prison. He’s given the news by the same cop that badgered him until he confessed: Joan Sunday. She makes it her mission to try and make it up to Julian, and from there the pair weave a tangled web. As the show progresses, we Julian try to assimilate back into the real would, a world in which he doesn’t want to go back from where he came. That counts for both his mother’s trailer and the madam’s house in which was essentially sold to as a teen.
He gets reeled back in a little bit, but it’s clear that world makes him uncomfortable now. Especially given that right before he was arrested he was set to leave the world for good and make a run at true love with a former client, Michelle Stratton. We see flashbacks of their time together, but since Julian’s arrest, she kind of settled into her rich life even though her fifteen year old son actually belongs to Julian. The son, Colin, plays a larger role in this miniseries, as he looks just like Julian, and similarly falls in love with an older woman: his teacher. The pair run off, but one of his father’s “henchmen” track them down and accidentally kills the teacher. From there, things get messy with ransoms, over-bearing madams, and more and more murders.
All of the connections were interesting, but not a lot of the characters were that compelling. Even though I’ll root for love, Michelle is just kind of a waif of a person. She doesn’t really stick up for anyone or herself even. Both Richard and Julian deserve better. She’s really the central piece to all the chaos that ensues after Julian gets released from prison. Julian, Sunday, and Richard were by far the most interesting and likeable characters in the show, and that was luckily enough to make the eight episodes watchable. With that being said, I’m glad this won’t be getting anymore seasons. It’s hit or miss, and I can’t say lovers of the film will find any enjoyment in this series. Rotten Tomatoes seems to think not, so watch at your own risk.