--- title: "Gigli" year: 2003 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/gigli" fi1m_score: 32 critics_score: 25 critics_reviews: 11 published: "2026-09-16T14:48:44.905157+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T14:49:02.271698+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Gigli (2003) Directed by Martin Brest · 2h 02m · MPA R · Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance **Fi1m score: 32** · Critics 25 from 11 reviews *In a sentence:* Two contract killers, a kidnapping and enough strained conversation to put us off both crime and dating > Martin Brest’s *Gigli* has capable actors and a kidnapping to get them moving, yet spends its time on strained romantic talk. A few comic moments survive; the central relationship gives us little reason to stay. ## Synopsis Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck), a hitman, takes on a kidnapping job involving Brian (Justin Bartha), a man with a cognitive disability. Another contract killer, Ricki (Jennifer Lopez), becomes involved in the assignment. Larry has a captive to deal with and a colleague who draws his attention away from the job. Ricki is a lesbian, but Larry is attracted to her, bringing questions about sex and relationships into their criminal business. The kidnapping puts these three people together as Larry tries to manage the assignment and his interest in Ricki. ## Review Martin Brest writes and directs *Gigli* as a crime comedy that hopes the company of its leads will matter more than the kidnapping that brings them together. That is a reasonable hope for this sort of film, but these characters are poor company, and their conversations seldom improve them. The kidnapping becomes an excuse for conversations that are rarely persuasive or funny. Most critics have rejected it, and we agree with the central complaint: the relationship does not work. The few decent comic moments cannot carry 122 minutes. Ben Affleck plays Larry Gigli with an effortful bluster that makes the character difficult to believe, even by the forgiving standards of a crime comedy. Jennifer Lopez has enough presence as Ricki to keep a scene watchable, but presence cannot make the exchanges sound spontaneous. The lines keep announcing how colourful these people are meant to be. We were bored by their banter because so much of it insists on being noticed without giving us a reason to care about the person speaking. A romantic comedy needs some pleasure in listening to its couple. The writing is worse when it turns to disability and sexuality, subjects it handles with a crude confidence it has not earned. Brian, played by Justin Bartha, is drawn into the film’s attempts to mix rough comedy with tenderness, but the humour makes that tenderness hard to accept. We winced at the disability jokes, because the appeals for sympathy do not undo the way those jokes ask us to regard their targets. Martin Brest gives the characters plenty to say about other people and too little evidence that they understand them. Robert Elswit’s cinematography is flat, with little in the image to reward attention when the dialogue stalls. Gary Frutkoff’s production design is similarly unobtrusive; the surroundings provide little sense of a life beyond the conversations taking place in them. The work looks professional, but it does not make spending time here more inviting. Editors Julie Monroe and Billy Weber allow the talk to dominate, and the scenes rarely gather momentum as they go. John Powell’s score adds an unhelpful blandness, doing little to ease the awkward movement between criminal threat, sexual banter and sentiment. Christopher Walken and Al Pacino are useful exceptions to the general strain, bringing some comic life to their brief contributions. Their appearances make the lack of ease elsewhere harder to ignore. There is also something worth allowing in the film’s willingness to let its criminal characters be strange and undignified, even when the jokes fail. A tidier, more anonymous comedy might have less personality, but this one needed someone to distinguish an eccentric exchange from a conversation that should have ended. Against the basic demands of a crime romance, *Gigli* falls short in both suspense and attraction. It is possible to enjoy a film like this on the strength of the actors alone, and the occasional flicker of charm explains why anyone might try. Here, though, the leads are repeatedly asked to sell dialogue that makes them less appealing the longer it continues. For anyone hoping its reputation promises an entertaining disaster, the caveat is simple: there is a great deal of waiting between the bits worth talking about. *Fi1m score 32, published 16 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The consensus on Gigli is overwhelmingly negative, with ten of the eleven reviews finding little to recommend. Most critics describe a romantic gangster comedy undermined by implausible plotting, strained dialogue and an unconvincing pairing of Affleck and Lopez. Praise is scattered rather than shared: some reviews find residual star charisma, occasional effective comedy or welcome contributions from Walken and Pacino. These concessions rarely soften the verdict on the film as a whole. The sharpest reservations concern the crude treatment of disability and sexuality, alongside a muddled tone and talk-heavy scenes that lack momentum. Critics differ mainly over whether any charm survives those problems, though one review breaks decisively from the rest. Variety finds the film silly but enjoyable, praising precisely the dialogue, character work and chemistry that most critics reject. Its enthusiasm makes it a clear outlier rather than evidence of a broadly divided response. ### Reviews we read (11) - **Variety**, Amy Dawes (**): The critic finds it a silly but enjoyably written and performed romantic comedy that benefits from strong dialogue and character work despite its baggage and nonsensical story. She singles out the engaging chemistry and banter between Lopez and Affleck as the highlight. [Read](https://variety.com/2003/film/reviews/gigli-1200540157/) - **Evening Standard**, Neil Norman (30/100, inferred): The review deems the film not quite as disastrous as its reputation suggested but still fatally undermined by a preposterous script and corny execution. Brief praise goes to the short contributions from Christopher Walken and Al Pacino. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/dead-ends-for-jlo-and-co-7436444.html) - **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez (30/100, inferred): The review calls the film a mess and vanity project that tries to be too many genres at once while offering nothing profound about the sexes, though it admires the curiosity and weirdo tone in places. It singles out the adolescent writing and the way Brest tortures the audience with home-invasion scenes and genre indecision as major complaints. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/gigli-dvd/) - **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (30/100, inferred): The critic finds little reason to see this talky, spark-free gangland romantic comedy, which lacks charge or momentum despite a professional sheen from Brest and charisma from its stars. The dialogue is unconvincing and the film is essentially all talk, redeemed by neither cameos nor the tacked-on ending. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/gigli-1798199372) - **Vulture**, Anna Peele (30/100, inferred): The piece states outright that Gigli isn’t a good film, either in 2003 or now, citing its myopic and convoluted story, jarringly banal score, tonal and genre tensions, and botched production history. It singles out the fake-seeming chemistry between Affleck and Lopez and the time-capsule early-2000s wardrobe and cultural context as notable elements. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/gigli-ben-affleck-jennifer-lopez-friday-night-movie-club.html) - **Time Out**, JWin (15/100, inferred): The critic delivers a strongly negative verdict on the film's execution and premise, highlighting the miscast leads and contrived plot elements like the impaired brother subplot and simplistic Hollywood psychology. A few mitigating factors are noted in passing, including visual appeal from one lead and a brief celebrity cameo. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/gigli) - **Empire**, Simon Braund (10/100, inferred): The critic finds the film utterly devoid of redeeming qualities, with no professional standards met in any aspect of production or performance. They single out the complete lack of chemistry between Affleck and Lopez, along with an appalling script, for particular scorn. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/gigli-review/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Manohla Dargis (10/100, inferred): The critic deems the film nearly as unwatchable as it is unpronounceable, a gangster comedy that stinks even without its stars and relies on crude, unfunny jokes about disability and sexuality. She singles out the strained banter, sentimental backpedaling, and Affleck's miscasting as an insufferable lunkhead. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-01-et-dargis1-story.html) - **The New York Times**, A. O. Scott (10/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a hopelessly misconceived exercise in celebrity self-worship with a special badness all its own, driven by lame dialogue from its stars. He singles out the flat, featureless look and the leads' inability to make their characters plausible or engaging. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/01/movies/film-review-an-offer-of-love-he-can-t-refuse.html) - **The Times**, James Christopher (10/100, inferred): The critic declares the film an utter disaster that defies adequate description. He highlights the absurd plot involving a kidnapping, the mismatched leads (a lesbian contract killer and a dim-witted hitman), and the crude, laughable dialogue as reasons it is unwatchable. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/gigli-3gnbmss2x2m) - **Collider**, Lindsey Clouse (35/100, inferred): The film is widely regarded as one of the worst ever made and deservedly so, with offensive elements, poor dialogue, and a muddled tone. However, the talented cast including Affleck, Lopez, Walken, and Pacino, along with occasional effective comedic moments, provide some redeeming qualities. [Read](https://collider.com/gigli-terrible-ben-affleck-jennifer-lopez/) ## Details - **Director:** Martin Brest - **Director:** Martin Brest - **Writer:** Martin Brest - **Cinematography:** Robert Elswit - **Editor:** Julie Monroe, Billy Weber - **Music:** John Powell - **Production design:** Gary Frutkoff - **Costume design:** Michael Kaplan - **Producer:** Casey Silver, Martin Brest - **Cast:** Ben Affleck as Larry Gigli; Jennifer Lopez as Ricki; Justin Bartha as Brian; Lainie Kazan as Mother; Missy Crider as Robin; Al Pacino as Starkman; Lenny Venito as Louis; Christopher Walken as Det. Stanley Jacobellis - **Runtime:** 2h 02m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 1 August 2003 - **Genres:** Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance - **Budget:** $76 million - **Box office:** $7 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDED4FPmuZo ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, DE, ES, FR, GB, HR, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NZ, PL, RS, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Out of Sight* (1998), Fi1m 86: Criminal business and romantic attraction share scenes without either needing constant explanation. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/out-of-sight.md) - *Midnight Run* (1988), Fi1m 88: An unwilling travelling partnership gives its mismatched leads something worth arguing about. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/midnight-run.md) - *The Hit* (1984): Criminals talking their way through trouble, with the threat allowed to linger. - *The Trouble with You* (2018): A French crime comedy that makes room for romance and difficult behaviour. - *Charade* (1963): Romance and criminal suspicion give each conversation something more than flirtation to carry. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/gigli