Gigli

Gigli (2003)

Life doesn't play by the rules.

Gigli is ordered to kidnap the psychologically challenged younger brother of a powerful federal prosecutor. When plans go awry, Gigli's boss sends in Ricki, a gorgeous free-spirited female gangster who has her own set of orders to assist with the kidnapping. But Gigli begins falling for the decidedly unavailable Ricki, which could be a hazard to his occupation.

Date of release
2003-08-01
TMDB
4.0 / 10 (514)
Runtime
2h 2m
Genres
Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Director
Martin Brest

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Budget: $75.6M
  • Filmed in: Long Beach and Los Angeles

Gigli is a 2003 American romantic comedy crime film written, co-produced, and directed by Martin Brest. The film stars Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, and Justin Bartha, with Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan in supporting roles. It follows a low-ranking Los Angeles mobster who kidnaps the brother of a federal prosecutor and is then ordered to work with a female enforcer sent to supervise him.

Production

Produced for Revolution Studios, Gigli formed part of Joe Roth's early strategy for the studio, which was launched in 2000 to make about half a dozen mid-budget films a year for release through Sony. Tim Robey wrote that Roth initially aimed to keep Revolution's films below $50 million, but Sony's commercial rebound in 2002 encouraged a more expensive 2003 slate; after several costly underperformers, including Gigli, Revolution lowered budgets, c…

Halle Berry was originally attached to co-star opposite Ben Affleck, but Robey writes that she withdrew because of scheduling conflicts on X2. She was replaced by Jennifer Lopez, who signed on in late 2001 after her planned thriller Tick Tock was cancelled in the wake of 9/11.

Principal photography took place in Los Angeles According to the film's production notes, the production used more than 20 Los Angeles locations as well as sound stages at Culver Studios, with Brest deliberately focusing on a less familiar, more dilapidated side of downtown Los Angeles The production notes also state that Gigli's apartment exterior was based on a Hollywood building, while the interior was constructed on a soundstage.

After early test screenings, Brest clashed with Roth over the film's pacing and final act. Robey writes that Brest's original ending was darker and more tragic, with Larry bleeding to death on the beach and Ricki revealed to have been posing as a contractor; Roth, alarmed by poor audience responses, pushed Brest into about five weeks of reshoots and a recut that compressed the criminal plot while emphasizing the romance.

According to later accounts by Brest and Affleck, the film was substantially reshaped after principal photography. Affleck said the studio, encouraged by tabloid fascination with his and Lopez's off-screen relationship, pushed the picture further toward a romance built around the pair.

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