Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo

Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo is a 1999 American sex comedy film directed by Mike Mitchell in his directorial debut, written by Harris Goldberg and Rob Schneider, and starring Schneider as a hapless fishtank cleaner who goes into business as a male sex worker in an attempt to earn enough money to repair damage he caused while house-sitting. It was the first film released by Happy Madison Productions.
Released on December 10, 1999, the film grossed $92 million worldwide on a $17 million budget despite negative reviews from critics. A sequel, titled Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, was released in 2005.
==Plot==
Deuce Bigalow, an insecure fishtank cleaner (aquarist), is fired for cleaning the tank at a public aquarium in the nude. Deuce is unsuccessful in attracting women, so he attempts to keep himself busy at work. On a house call, he meets an Argentinian male prostitute Antoine Laconte. Antoine is going on a business trip, and so asks Deuce to care for his sick lionfish and protect his home while he is away. Deuce accidentally sets Antoine's kitchen on fire when trying to make a grilled cheese sandwich in the toaster, and breaks an expensive fish tank.
Fearing Antoine will kill him, Deuce is forced to find a way to pay $6,000 for the damage. Low-rent pimp T.J. Hicks offers to help Deuce make enough money to buy a new fish tank, and convinces Deuce to take over the absent Antoine's role as a gigolo. Deuce decides to make the clients feel better about themselves, since he only desires to have sex with beautiful women.
Deuce meets unusual clients but he still manages to get along with them, despite there being no sex involved, by helping them with certain issues in their lives. The clients include Carol, a woman who is severely narcoleptic; Ruth, who has Tourette syndrome with coprolalia, and therefore is afraid of socializing; Fluisa, an obese woman weighing close to 750 pounds; and Tina, a woman that has a pituitary gland disorder and is extremely tall. Deuce's list of clients gradually increases, with each client being satisfied by much more fulfilling measures due to his personal attention and friendship. However, Deuce falls in love with one of his clients, Kate (Arija Bareikis), who has a prosthetic leg. She later breaks up with Deuce when she finds out that he was a prostitute hired by her friends.
Meanwhile, Deuce is being stalked by Detective Chuck Fowler, who demands Antoine's "black book" of clients and threatens to take Deuce to jail if he does not comply. Deuce eventually helps Fowler please his wife by stripping and erotically dancing for her, and the two make amends. Deuce is still taken into custody on prostitution charges, as Fowler needs someone to bring in and Deuce's own refusal to betray his newfound friend, T.J., by turning him in. At the hearing, it is revealed that Deuce never slept with any of the clients except for Kate. Since Deuce gave back the money to Kate and was not paid for sex with her, he is cleared of all charges.
Using the money he made, Deuce restores Antoine's fish tank, although due to time constraints he is warned that the glass may not be installed properly. Unfortunately, Kate's blind roommate accidentally kills the prize fish in Antoine's aquarium when she starts the mixer in which the fish was being kept. Deuce buys a replacement fish and returns to Antoine's house just in time. Antoine is suspicious, but cannot figure out why. He taps the new aquarium and the glass shatters. Deuce then reveals his prostituting adventures to the furious Antoine. Enraged, Antoine tries to kill Deuce, and at one point shoots a crossbow bolt at him. The aforementioned overweight client, Fluisa, shows up, comes between the two men, and saves Deuce's life (she is not killed because the bolt hits her breasts, between which she has hidden a roast chicken). Antoine is then arrested by Detective Fowler, and Deuce marries Kate. The end sequences continues to follow the epilogue. Deuce's father becomes a male prostitute. Fluisa underwent extensive liposuction and became a model in Victoria's Secret known as Naomi. Ruth opens up an all girls school for people with Tourette's. Carol manages to fulfill her dream trip to France. T.J. starts his own reality show dedicated to his experiences as a male prostitute, and an incarcerated Antoine marries Tina.
==Cast==
*Rob Schneider as Deuce Bigalow, an insecure fishtank cleaner turned gigolo
*William Forsythe as Detective Charles "Chuck" Fowler, a LAPD detective and Antoine's nemesis
*Eddie Griffin as Tiberius Jefferson "T.J." Hicks, a crazy low-rent pimp and Deuce's friend
*Arija Bareikis as Kate, a woman with prosthetic leg, one of the Deuce's clients and later, his wife.
*Oded Fehr as Antoine Laconte, a famous gigolo from Argentina and Chuck's nemesis
*Gail O'Grady as Claire
*Richard Riehle as Robert "Bob" Bigalow
*Jacqueline Obradors as Elaine Fowler, Chuck's wife
*Big Boy as Fluisa aka Jabba, an obesewoman weighing close to 750 pounds and one of the Deuce's clients
*Amy Poehler as Ruth, a woman who has Tourette syndrome with coprolalia
*Torsten Voges as Tina, a woman that has a pituitary gland disorder and is extremely tall. She's also one of the Deuce's clients
*Bree Turner as Allison
*Andrew Shaifer as Neil
*Allen Covert as Vic
*Norm Macdonald as bartender
*Elle King as Cookie Girl
*Adam Sandler (voice) as Offscreen passerby
*Marlo Thomas as Margaret
==Production==
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo is the first film released by the Happy Madison Productions film production company. Adam Sandler served as the film's executive producer. Sandler also shouted the insults "Freak!" and other offscreen lines.
==Release==
===Box office===
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo opened theatrically on December 10, 1999 in 2,154 venues and earned $12,224,016 in its opening weekend, ranking third in the North American box office behind Toy Story 2's fourth weekend and fellow newcomer The Green Mile. The film ended its run, having grossed $65,538,755 in the United States and Canada, and $27,400,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $92,938,755. Based on a $17 million budget, the film was a box office success.
===Critical reception===
The film received negative reviews from critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 22% score based on 76 reviews, with an average rating of 4.01/10. The site's consensus states: "According to critics, Deuce Bigalow is just too dumb and filled with old, tired gags." Metacritic reports a 30 out of 100 rating based on 26 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, stating "It's the kind of picture those View n' Brew theaters were made for, as long as you don't View." Kendall Morgan from The Dallas Morning News writes in her review, "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo makes There's Something About Mary look like Masterpiece Theatre."
==Sequel==
In 2005, a sequel, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, was released by Columbia Pictures instead of Touchstone Pictures.
Category:1999 films
Category:Rated R
Category:English-language films
Category:American films
Category:1999 romantic comedy films
Category:1990s sex comedy films
Category:American romantic comedy films
Category:American sex comedy films
Category:Films about male prostitution in the United States
Category:Films scored by Teddy Castellucci
Category:Films shot in California
Category:Films shot in Florida
Category:Films directed by Mike Mitchell
Category:Films shot in Los Angeles
Category:Happy Madison Productions films
Category:Films with screenplays by Rob Schneider
Category:Touchstone Pictures films
Category:1999 directorial debut films