Rob Schneider, Eddie Griffin, William Forsythe and Arija Bareikis
Actually They Are Called Sex Workers
Saturday Night Live has produced many movie stars over its 25 years of existence. Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvy, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, and David Spade just to name a few. Now Rob Schneider is trying to add his name to the list, he has already made several small appearences in smaller roles with actors like Sylvester Stallone (in Judge Dred and Demolition Man) and Adam Sandler (in The Waterboy and Big Daddy) and now he has made his writing and leading role debut in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. Although this movie offering does have a lot of laughs, and it isn't a bad first effort for Schneider (as a leading man and writter), the story is just a little too stupid, and Deuce Bigalow is not a very good movie.
Kate (Arija Bareikis) and Deuce (Rob Schneider) help some fish
Life pretty much sucks if you are a short, little, hairy man whose sole ambition in life is to have a great place to live... for your fish. Deuce Bigalow (Rob Schneider, Big Daddy, The Waterboy, "Saturday Night Live") is just that type of pathetic man. Deuce cleans fish tanks and ponds for a living and his only thrill is to go to the fish store and gawk at Allison (Bree Turner, "MTV's Undressed"), the store's clerk. Luckily he gets a chance to turn his life around when he meets Antoine (Oded Fehr, The Mummy). Antoine is a high priced gigolo who... how shall we say... services well off women. Antoine needs someone to house sit his swank apartment and look after his exotic fish... and Deuce is the perfect man for the job. Unfortunately Deuce destroys Antoine's $6000 fish tank and has to replace it in two weeks or Antoine will kill him... so Deuce decides to try his hand at being a gigolo (or man-whoring, as it is referred to in the movie). With the help of his male pimp, T.J. (Eddie Griffin, "Malcom and Eddie"), Deuce quickly makes enough profit to pay for the tank... and he also meets a love interest in Kate (Arija Bareikis, "One Life To Live"), a one legged woman who doesn't know about Deuce's sordid occupation. With all his work to fix the tank, Antoine still discovers that it was broken and Deuce and his friends must do some quick thinking to save him from the crazy man-whore.
T.J. (Eddie Griffin) helps Deuce with his "technique"
Whatever it is about this movie... I just didn't like it. Sure it has its funny moments, and a couple of good characters along with some good spoofs on the movie The Matrix... but all of that left me wanting more. Part of it was Rob Schneider's title character of Deuce Bigalow didn't have a lot of the funny lines or actions. In fact, the only really funny character was Eddie Griffin's T.J., for example he has several variations of the prostitution lingo tailored for gigolos (like man-whore). I guess I was figuring with some of the great comedic performances Rob Schneider has put in with small roles (like in The Waterboy and Big Daddy) that his first real leading role would give him a real chance, but it just wasn't a good chance. I guess if you are looking for a comedy where you can completely shut your brain off and are content with just a few laughs, then Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo is an OK movie for you. But, if you like a ton of laughs in a comedy movie and you enjoy comedies that make you think even more, then save your money for the next comedy to come around.
