Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)
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A hapless fishtank cleaner must enter the world of male prostitution to pay off the damages he caused while house-sitting.
The story
Deuce Bigalow is a lonely and insecure aquarist living in Los Angeles. While house-sitting for a famous gigolo named Antoine, Deuce accidentally sets the kitchen on fire and breaks a custom aquarium. Fearing Antoine's retaliation, Deuce is forced to find a way to pay $6,000 for the damage. He is eventually approached by a pimp named T.J., who offers to recruit him into the gigolo business. Deuce begins a series of dates with various clients, attempting to navigate the demands of his new profession while trying to settle his debt.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Deuce Bigalow, an insecure aquarist in Los Angeles, is tasked with house-sitting for Antoine, a famous gigolo. Deuce causes significant damage to the apartment, including a fire and a broken custom aquarium. To pay the $6,000 debt, he is recruited by a pimp named T.J. to become a gigolo himself. Deuce goes on dates with several women—Fluisa, Carol, Ruth, and Tina—providing them with emotional support rather than sex. During this time, he falls in love with Kate, a woman with a prosthetic leg. However, Kate breaks up with him upon learning his profession. Meanwhile, Detective Chuck Fowler stalks Deuce, seeking Antoine's client list. Deuce eventually helps Fowler's wife with an erotic dance but is still arrested for prostitution. In court, Deuce's clients testify that he never had sex with them, only made them feel good, and since he only slept with Kate (for whom he returned the money), he is cleared. Deuce and Kate reconcile. As Antoine returns, Deuce and his friends frantically repair the apartment. When the aquarium shatters, Deuce confesses his gigolo business to a furious Antoine, who tries to kill him with a crossbow. Fluisa saves Deuce when the bolt hits a roast chicken in her bra. Antoine is arrested by Fowler. A postscript reveals the characters' futures: Bob becomes a gigolo, Ruth opens a school, Carol visits the Eiffel Tower, Fluisa becomes a model, and Deuce and Kate marry and form an anti-sushi movement.
- First release year
- 1999
- Runtime (minutes)
- 88
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Mike Mitchell
- Writers
- Harris Goldberg · writer; Rob Schneider · writer
- Cast and characters
- Rob Schneider · Deuce Bigalow; William Forsythe · Detective Charles "Chuck" Fowler; Eddie Griffin · Tiberius Jefferson "T.J." Hicks; Arija Bareikis · Kate; Oded Fehr · Antoine Laconte; Gail O'Grady · Claire; Richard Riehle · Robert "Bob" Bigalow; Jacqueline Obradors · Elaine Fowler
- Genres
- sex comedy; romantic comedy
- Themes
- Debt and Responsibility; Identity; Unconventional Love
- Tone and mood
- Comedy; Absurdist
- Premise and plot tags
- Sex Comedy; Fish out of Water; Debt Repayment
- Source material / true-story basis
- Inspired by American Gigolo (1980)
- Franchise connections
- Deuce Bigalow
- Content notes
- Sex Comedy
- Reception
- The film received generally negative reviews from critics but was a box office success, grossing over $92 million worldwide against a $17 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 23% · review count: 75; Metacritic · score: 30 · scale: 100 · review count: 26; CinemaScore · score: B
- Production trivia
- It was the first film produced by Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison Productions.; Adam Sandler can be heard yelling the infamous "Freak!' line and other various lines in the background.; Norm Macdonald only worked on this movie for one day.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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