Deuce
Bigalow: Male Gigolo
(1999)
Rated: R
Runtime: 1 Hour and 28 Minutes
Reviewer: Dale
Grade: BThe most shocking thing about this movie is how I liked it. I was prepared to hate it. I borrowed it from a friend just because I wanted another movie that I could rip to shreds. As much as I hate to watch a crappy movie, I must admit to taking a certain degree of pleasure from reviewing one and illustrating how horrible it is.
This was my sole intention in watching Deuce. I've got nothing in particular against Rob Schneider. His "Copy Boy" routines on "Saturday Night Live" almost always made me giggle. I may be ashamed to admit to that, but it is a fact. But more often than not, well, he's kinda annoying.
Here, however, he works. He is the last man on Earth that anyone would pay to have sex with. In fact, I don't know who would have sex with him for free. Therefore, the plot makes me laugh just for that fact. Just look at the little weenie! Steve Buscemi has more sexual charisma than this guy.
And the women that he is made to do the naughty limmerick dance with, well, they are all hilariously flawed in some way. One woman is enormously obese. One woman has a pituitary problem and is grotesquely tall. Another has Tourette's Syndrome and curses like Samuel L. Jackson in any public place. And Deuce finds a surprisingly clever way to make each of these women happy and feel better about themselves without giving them the hot beef injection. They are the sort of women that could only do as well as going to bed with Rob Schneider. I probably should be ashamed for laughing at them, but I did.
More surprising than any of this, the movie has a charm to it. You start rooting for the absurd little putz. You believe it when he falls in love, although you wonder how such a seemingly sweet young woman could fall for Deuce. She is a sweetheart. And I was surprised to find myself wanting these two kids to stay together and iron out their differences, even when there were a couple of off color jokes made at her expense. Unlike much of "Scary Movie" however, the off color jokes are hilarious. So are the spoofs of "The Matrix". There is a lot of very funny stuff in this movie. There are some not-so-funny moments too, as expected, but less of them than I thought and more of the drop-dead funny ones. It also has a lot more wit than I imagined it would.
In the end, you will likely find yourself laughing pretty hard, caring about the characters, and actually wanting to find out how it all turns out. That's more than you can say for a lot of comedies these days.
Oh, and keep an eye out for the cop who keeps badgering Deuce. That guy is just hilarious.