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For being involved in an inadvertent fracas Deuce Bigalow (Rod Schneider), a witless and
bumbling fish-tank cleaner of Malibu Beach U.S.A., is on the run from the law.
He flies to Amsterdam on the invitation of his ex-pimp friend TJ (Eddie Griffin) who is based there. Almost immediately Deuce is involved in helping solve the serial murder of gigolos, for which his friend TJ has been implicated. Posing as a gigolo, a male prostitute—called "man whore" in Dutch society—he investigates women clients who had been customers of the slain gigolos. He believes that the serial killer is a woman.
The short and simple plot gets lost in the continuous series of visuals and accompanying
dialogue where sexual matters meant to be funny and bring on laughs are projected.
Rob Schneider has to act as a real dimwit, making himself very ludicrous to take on his character. It is he who develops the story and also has a hand in writing the script. A bonus for the viewer is the virtual tour of Amsterdam where marijuana use and prostitution are legal. The viewer is taken into red light districts (where whores lure their customers from show windows), and coffee shops that don't serve coffee ("If you want coffee, you go to a café; if you want pot, you go to a coffee shop.") And of course, windmills are thrown in for authenticity.
European Gigolo is saturated with male whores and their women clients who are off the normal, especially those encountered by Deuce. Prominently shown are the various questionable acts and behavior they involve themselves in. Nudity, violence, physical and mental handicaps, penile size and the use of drugs are made objects of fun and ridicule. The result is humor of a gross kind showing the offensiveness of the characters and their attitude. It is doubtful that with all those visual and vulgar distractions, the good intentions and the valid ideas present in the movie—namely, the sincerity of Deuce; his speaking against oversexuality and for women's need of tenderness; the risk he takes for his innocent friend TJ; his protective attitude towards his love object; the desire of Gaspar to rid Amsterdam of the bad elements (albeit rooted in revenge)—will be noticed at all by viewers.
(Date Reviewed: 14 October 2005)
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