Dirk V
Reviewer

      Ben Affleck’s character meets and falls in love with a lesbian who is afraid to get involved with a man. Sound familiar? While it sounds similar to "Chasing Amy," unfortunately for all involved, this film is not the Kevin Smith romantic comedy.
 
     "Gigli" was a good idea for a film that turned into a mess. The basic concept for the film could have been amusing, but due to a poor script, poor plot development, and poor acting it becomes a chore to sit through the full two hours, and the final 30 minutes of the film feel longer than the first hour and a half.      In "Gigli" (pronounced gee-lee, “rhymes with really”), Affleck plays Larry Gigli, a professional tough guy working for a mobster in California. He is assigned to kidnap the mentally challenged brother of a federal prosecutor in an attempt to relieve legal pressure on his boss’s New York associate. In order to assure Gigli does not mess up this job, his boss also enlists the aid of Ricki, a tough lesbian played by Jennifer Lopez. Gigli begins to fall for Ricki and complications arise because of her sexual disposition and the nature of their professional relationship.
 
     Martin Brest’s most recent directorial endeavor, his last being Meet Joe Black, barely even lives up to the genre of romantic comedy. Unlike "Chasing Amy," which benefited from a strong, amusing script and great performances by Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams and Jason Lee, "Gigli" lacks all of these qualities. The script is weak with horrible dialogue, and any attempts at humor are pulled of with such excruciating effort one is uncertain whether to laugh or cry.
 
     Most of the humor in the film comes from the mentally challenged brother, played by newcomer Justin Bartha. However, these tire quickly and become old halfway through the film. A mentally challenged white man randomly shouting obscenities and rapping is only funny in brief doses and only then if done well. Brest’s reliance upon this as a means of humor seems like a cheap attempt to get a laugh in a movie that cannot decide if it wants to be serious or silly. The only other attempts at humor in the film are the exchanges of sexual dialogue between Affleck and Lopez. While these are mildly amusing anecdotes about the relations of men and women, especially regarding sexual preferences, they are usually delivered in long speeches and are not as funny as one would expect them to be.
 
     Considering this is supposed to be the film set where Lopez and Affleck fell in love, it would seem reasonable to expect great chemistry between the two on screen. Neither Affleck, nor Lopez gives a great performance in the film. The chemistry between their two characters feels forced and awkward, and their relationship, which is the main part of the film, is developed slowly and inefficiently. Affleck, however, is effective playing a loveable, moronic thug. While it is not his greatest performance, it is a nice change of pace from his usual characters, and is probably the only bright spot in the film. Lopez gives a bland performance as a tough lesbian. Although this may not be entirely her fault because she has few lines outside of long speeches, she is still unable to bring life to her character. Instead, Lopez seems more like a pretty face to complement Affleck than a serious character in the film.
 
     The film would have benefited greatly from a great performance to compliment Affleck. However, even cameo appearances by Christopher Walken and Al Pacino could do little to add to the quality of the film. Walken plays a cop who harasses Gigli in his apartment after the kidnapping. Pacino plays the mob boss from New York in legal trouble. He shows up to kill Gigli’s boss and to threaten Gigli and Ricki. Neither scene is outstanding, and just adds to the awareness of how terrible most of the acting is in the film.