John Turturro's 'Fading Gigolo'

Blame it instead on actor John Turturro, who has written, directed, and starred in this whimsical comedy that threatens to out-Allen Allen in its wackiness and warmheartedness.

Allen plays Murray Schwartz, a Brooklyn-based bookseller who has fallen on hard times. He has to close the shop he inherited from his grandfather, but Schwartz is a resourceful fellow. He recognizes a new source of income when his dermatologist (Sharon Stone) confides in him that she’s looking for a threesome partner for herself and a friend (the equally gorgeous Sofía Vergara). Schwartz has just the candidate for the job: One of his part-time employees, Fioravante, is now out of work, and here’s an opportunity for the two of them to pair up in a new business venture. Fioravante (Turturro) may be a shy loner (he’s also a florist and an electrician), but he’s tall, dark, and handsome, and Schwartz talks him into the adventure.

The rest of the film deals with the development of their “business” and the definition of their job descriptions. Schwartz, aka “Dan Bongo,” is the procurer, and Fioravante, aka “Virgil Howard,” is his self-proclaimed “ho.” Sounds distasteful? On the contrary, it’s surprisingly whimsical. Fioravante develops compassion for his vulnerable clients, including the dermatologist and others. Then the inevitable happens (it’s a comedy, remember). Schwartz takes pity on Avigal, a grieving young Chasidic widow and mother of six in his community (the beautiful Vanessa Paradis), and introduces her to Fioravante, who falls deeply in love.

Kidnapped!

This improbable, screwball plot thickens when Dovi (an intense Liev Schreiber), a member of the Chasidic community’s vigilante police force who is also in love with Avigal, starts following her and Fioravante. A hilarious kidnapping scene ensues, and two hapless partners are put on trial before a group of community rabbis. “What'd I do? Break the dietary laws?” exclaims the captive Schwartz.

Writer/director Turturro has created two quirky and eccentric characters for this improbable “buddy comedy.” Schwartz (Woody Allen at his best) is the ideal family man, devoted to his wife (Tonya Pinkins) and their three African-American children, with whom he regularly plays baseball on a Brooklyn sandlot. Turturro’s Fioravante is a sensitive soul, making delicate flower arrangements for his clients, and showing them tact, discretion, and sensitivity. Then when he falls in love with Avigal, he positively melts and forsakes his newfound profession to pursue the real thing.

Clearly, Turturro has been influenced by the fanciful comedies of Woody Allen (Sweet and Lowdown, The Purple Rose of Cairo, To Rome with Love). “Mortality is a very iffy thing,” says Schwartz, wistfully. “You’re here one day, and then something happens, and the next day you’re gone. And the world goes on without you.” That line could have come straight out of a Woody Allen film.

As it turns out, Turturro’s Fading Gigolo is a sweet, tender musing on love and connection between a motley assortment of lonely souls. “When you don’t understand what the other person is saying, very often that’s a tremendous advantage,” says Allen as Schwartz. That’s about as deep as it gets when it comes to defining the nature of love.