Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) User Reviews

Tasteless, but often very funny and sometimes hilarious

[mattymatt4ever · 7/10 · 16 May 2001]

Let's see...you're watching a movie starring and co-written by Rob Schneider. You're obviously not expecting something with depth and plausibility. But he is a talented comedian, and anyone who is an avid SNL fan has seen Rob perform some very funny skits. He's not Milton Berle, but he has that mindlessly funny comic energy that frequently works.

"Deuce Bigalow" is a film almost aimed at ticking off critics. Not all audiences will find the crude gags funny, but others--preferably those who can let go of their inhibitions for an hour and a half--will have tons of laughs. The subplot involving Deuce's father as a bathroom attendant is pretty cheap. It's an obvious setup for scatological gags. One of them involving a scene in which Deuce is having a pleasant man-to-man talk with his Dad while you can hear the groans of someone in one of the stalls loudly...relieving himself made me roll with laughter. I wouldn't call it a priceless gag, but you don't always have to aim high with comedy. If it's funny, it's funny. If you laughed, you laughed.

Just like any Farrelly Brothers movie, there are gags involving physical handicaps like obesity, narcolepsy and Turrett's Syndrome. However, the jokes are executed in such a broad manner that no one--even ones with any of those disorders--shouldn't be offended.

Naturally, some will hate this movie, some will like this movie, some will love this movie. In my mind, if it's a comedy and I'm laughing--what other factors should I be looking for?

My score: 7 (out of 10)

Very Low Brow But I Liked It

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 19 September 2004]

Duece Bigalow cleans fish tanks for a living and by a contrived set of circumstances finds himself looking after the home of male gigolo Antoine Laconte who is very house proud and a bit of a psycho . What's the odds of Laconte coming home to find his house a bit of a mess ?

There you go a very simple predictable premise featuring someone who's got a rude sounding name . I lost count of how many times people mispronounced the name " Laconte " but I will be honest in saying I did like some aspects to this film no matter how predictable and unlikely they were : " Hey Deuce it's Antoine . If I come back to find out there's any mess I will kill you " . I also liked the not so unsubtle references to THE MATRIX and American GIGOLO

Of course I can understand why some people don't like it . It's a very unsophisticated movie that feels like it's trying to be a Farrelly brothers comedy but failing and even I became very fed up with the cop showing Deuce his thingy in every scene they appeared in together along with the running gag about sea snails , but come on it's a low brow comedy and I knew before I sat down to watch it that it wasn't an Oscar contender . Try FREDDY GOT FINGERED or GET OVER IT if you want to see a really bad comedy

Six out of Ten

It is far from original, but it's a good movie for a no-brainer

[philip_vanderveken · 7/10 · 28 September 2004]

Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo is far from an original or subtle comedy, but I don't think that is what the director had in mind when doing this movie. All in all it is quite a good movie, even though it is a real no-brainer.

Deuce Bigalow used to work as a tank cleaner in SeaWorld, but got fired because he was cleaning the tanks in the nude in front of a lot of people. Since than he cleans domestic fish tanks for a living. This job brings him into contact with Antoine Laconte, who works as a male escort and owns a gigantic apartment, filled with all kinds of precious items. One of these is a tank full of very expensive fish.

When one of the fish gets sick Deuce is asked to help and, since Antoine is going to Europe for 3 weeks, he has to check in on the apartment daily to look at the fish. But instead of checking in on Antoine's home, Deuce takes the opportunity to move into the flat. He accidentally sets fire to the toaster and breaks the fish tank. Knowing that Antoine will kill him for that when he sees it, Deuce has to make sure everything is exactly the way it was. But that will cost a lot of money... which he doesn't have. To raise enough money in that short period of time he decides to start working as a low-budget male gigolo.

As you can expect in this kind of movie, he doesn't meet any normal women who want to make use of his services. It is a real freak show, filled with a 500 pound woman, a woman who's about 8 feet tall... The movie is full of this kind of predictable facts, but when you are prepared for it, it really doesn't bother. Don't expect to see a highly sofisticated movie, but it isn't as bad as you might expect. One of the scenes that I really liked were the parodies on other movies like The Matrix.

I would recommend this movie to everybody who doesn't mind laughing about older and predictable jokes. It's an excellent movie when you came home from a hard day at work, when you are tired and looking for a good laugh without having to think too much. I reward it with a 7/10.

I Have To Admit I Enjoyed This

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9 May 2006]

I hate to admit this but I liked this movie, at least the first time I saw it. Yes, it's crass, crude, stupid and whatever but it's generally likable and a funny movie in many spots.

Rob Schneider does a fine job playing this amiable loser. Several scenes are just laugh-out-loud funny. The female interest, Arija Bareikis, is not someone I was familiar with but I liked her wholesome looks. William Forsythe plays the villain and, of course, he's over-the-top. The film had a nice soundtrack, a lot of familiar rock tunes.

As with most modern comedies, this gets carried and a little stupid at the end but, overall the film is good low-grade fun (and I mean "low grade!")

Who Didn't Like The Fish Tank Scene...Be Honest!!

[damianphelps · 7/10 · 25 September 2022]

Deuce Bigalow is exactly what you would expect from this production team and straight up you either like them or you don't.

I like them so for me Deuce Bigalow hits the spots I expected it to hit.

The comedy is low brow but its not trying to be an art film so its all good.

And I'm not going to apoligise for my absolute love of the term/category of 'He B!tch' :) My wife and I have been using that expression for years now and it never gets old!!

The cast throughout is fun and add plenty of comedy gold.

Its a fun movie that most will at least get some moments of mirth from and others will laugh their socks off :)

One of the funniest films of 1999

[Quinoa1984 · 6/10 · 3 June 2001]

Among a huge list in 1999 of comedies (American Pie, Bowfinger, Dogma, and South Park topping that list), Deuce Bigaow has to be included. It is a original comedy about a fish man (Rob Schnieder) who becomes a man-prostitute in order to pay for a 6,000 dollar tank. What follows in the film are some of the best and most outrageous antics to come from a SNL type of character movie. The premise sounds dumb, to be sure (as most others are), but Schnieder makes this worth watching with his consistently funny performance. Norm McDonald makes a cameo. A-

Not nearly as funny as the commercials...

[Xophianic · 5/10 · 3 February 2000]

After watching the commercials for this movie, I was excited about seeing DEUCE BIGALWO: MALE GIGOLO. Although I've never been a big Rob Schneider fan, I've always liked Saturday Night Live and their alumni, and I usually enjoy the movies they make. I was hoping this movie wouldn't be too similar to most Adam Sandler movies that are made. Most of them are stupider than they are funnier. I'd rather watch a movie like TOMMY BOY or THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO LITTLE than WATERBOY or BILLY MADISON. So I was hoping DEUCE BIGALOW be a little more like those movies. It turns out, this movie was worse than the Adam Sandler movies, and I found most Sandler movies funnier.

Deuce Bigalow (Rob Schneider) plays a pathetic, unemployed, fish-loving tank cleaner who gets a job by a very big male prostitute named Antoine LeConte (Oded Fehr) to take care of his house for three weeks. When Deuce almost destroys the house, he needs to make a few thousand dollars quickly. Through a guy named T.J. (Eddie Griffin) he is able to get a job as a gigolo, but every girl he tries to "give pleasure" is very unusual and strange. He finally falls in love with a woman named Kate (Arija Bareikis).

Although it had its moments, DEUCE BIGALOW: MALE GIGALO didn't strike me as very funny. The story line is useless (although it isn't really mean to be very important) and most of the jokes that weren't used on the commercials don't work. The funniest parts of the movie were the Matrix spoofs and a few of the jokes, but all of which were already used on the commercials.

The acting was nothing special, but not so bad. Rob Schneider does fine, but again, nothing special. Arija Bareikis does pretty well as Deuce's girlfriend. Oded Fehr did a pretty good job as the huge, strong male hooker. Eddie Griffin and William Forsythe (who plays a detective) play incredibly annoying characters with not-very-great acting jobs. Norm Macdonald has a pretty good cameo as well.

Story line? Give me a break. It's just Deuce going from one nutcase girl to another and falling in love with the only normal one (well, mostly). Some of the girls do have funny moments, but not enough for me to say I recommend this movie.

so stupid that it's kinda funny

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 23 August 2015]

Deuce Bigalow (Rob Schneider) is a bumbling clueless fish-expert aquarium cleaner that no woman likes. He cleans male gigolo Antoine's aquarium. Antoine is going on a trip and Deuce is asked to take care of his beloved sick fish. He destroys the tank and needs $6k in 3 weeks to replace it. He tries his hand in the gigolo business and attracts pimp T.J. Hicks (Eddie Griffin). Deuce becomes a highly specialized man-whore taking on unusual clients.

This is a really stupid comedy and it kinda works. Rob Schneider is a sleazy clueless idiot but not the hateful one that he sometimes plays. Eddie Griffin is hilarious. It also features Amy Poehler as Ruth with Tourettes. The romance with Arija Bareikis is cute. I understand critics who ridicule the movie's idiocy but I laughed. It's that simple.

"Not the Gigolo We Asked For"

[Kamurai25 · 4/10 · 20 September 2020]

Decent watch at very best, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend.

I actually like Rob Schneider a bit, and the guy can certainly act, but it's like he got he's talent from a Monkey's Paw, there is usually some draw back. In this, it's where the movie systematically makes fun of people from anger management issues, to serious conditions, to amputees, and all of them lonely and possibly desperate, so it's extra sad.

Yes, it's the premise of the movie that he's an unexpected gigolo with unexpected clients, but I'm not sure anyone was asking for this movie.

All that aside, this is a alternating abuse humor / ridiculous escalation humor, and a lot of the movie is just Rob being exasperated with his own script. To top it off, it feels like there is one story line too many with the cop investigating him. The angry gigolo with WAY too many expensive things that he mistreats is plenty of antagonist.

They definitely put the work in on the production side though, even incorporating a couple of matrix references that probably cost far more than warranted for the movie.

I don't blame you if you do like this movie, but there has got to be something better to watch.

Not as cheesy as it looks.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 7/10 · 18 May 2001]

Sure, Deuce Bigalow is not exactly a landmark cinematic accomplishment. It's full of dirty jokes and childish humor, but underneath all of the goofball comedy, it actually comes through with a very healthy message, which is virtually non-existent in these dumb comedies. Deuce Bigalow is a lowly fish tank cleaner, and when one of his important clients has to leave town on business, he hires Deuce to look after his place and especially one of his precious fish, which would not survive on it's own the entire time that Anton (the client) is out of town. Needless to say, Deuce starts screwing around in the lavish apartment and breaks Anton's ridiculously expensive fish tank and then has to come up with $6,000 to replace it and do other repairs around the house.

This is when Deuce has the brilliant idea to assume Anton's job as a gigolo, because he knows he'll never make the money on time cleaning fish tanks. Unfortunately, he gets all of the freaky clients, like the gigantic black woman (`Did you say steak?') and the eight foot tall girl (`That's a huge bitch!'), the girl with narcolepsy that falls asleep at the weirdest times, and of course, they could never leave out a date with Tourette's syndrome, definitely the least amusing of all of them.

So Deuce goes through all of these awful dates, and then he meets a girl on another date that is perfect except she has a prosthetic leg. This is where the healthy message comes in, because Deuce learns that he really loves this girl, and it really doesn't matter to him that she only has one leg. He falls in love with her pretty quick, but the romance of it all, as cheesy as it was, is actually pretty well done. Deuce is trying to get enough money to replace the stuff in Anton's apartment, so he goes on one last date with one of Anton's stunningly beautiful clients, and he even rejects her aggressive sexual advances because he's in love. Sure, he does a pretty graphic strip-tease for her, but you get the point of his intentions.

However, despite the fact that the movie is full of goofy jokes, some of the comedy was pretty good. Deuce's toilet-cleaning father was pretty amusing at some points, and most of all, the detective that was after Deuce and especially Anton (his wife was one of Anton's clients) was hilarious in every scene he was in. `I got a thin dick!' Why is that so funny? It's totally dumb, but it just cracked me up. Maybe it's because he compared it to spaghetti. It was just great how he was at first really threatening to Deuce, and then he would suddenly ask his advice about whether Deuce thought he could make some money in the gigolo business or what he thought that red spot on his penis was (`It wasn't there this morning, I checked!').

As a whole, this is another one of those brainless comedies aimed at immature or uneducated (or both) audiences, but it doesn't fail on just about all levels like most of these types of movies always seem to do. It's a strong and healthy message delivered in questionable packaging.

I can't believe these are still made

[Liz-59 · 1/10 · 21 November 1999]

All Adam Sandler, Rob Schnieder, Norm MacDonald, Chris Farley, David Spade, and the rest of former SNL "Bad Boys" have the same stupid plotline to all of their films. They gotta get a certain amount of money in a certain amount of time or it's somebody's head. I can't even comprehend why they get a fraction of an audience anymore.

Very Very Enjoyable Comedy

[whpratt1 · 10/10 · 15 September 2005]

Rob Schneider(Deuce Bigalow),"The Hot Chick",'02, had me laughing through out the entire film. Bigalow starts out as a very simple guy who cleans fish tanks and other details, like plunging a toilet bowl. He meets up with a guy who lets him use his home while he goes on a trip and things start to happen. As the picture progresses, Bigalow finds himself having to service all kinds of women with very crazy personalities and wild desires. One gal has such bad language he takes her to a baseball game where she can use all kinds of filthy words and be applauded by the crowd. However, Deuce Bigalow does meet up with a gal Arija Bareikis and falls madly in love with her, however, he pulls her leg too much and gets her very hot and bothered. Deuce eventually goes to trial and you will have the view the film to find out how it ends. Great Comedy and a fantastic performance by Rob Schneider.

It's so funny and suprisingly romantic.

[Kdosda_Hegen · 7/10 · 14 May 2020]

This movie is dumb and crazy, silly comedy, but later it becomes very charming and heartwarming. The very best of Rob Schneider.

This movie is not good.

[JRGBUCS · 1/10 · 24 June 2001]

This is not a very good movie. Simple enough. Maybe I lack a "sense of humor", or maybe this movie wasn't made for me, but I really had a hard time watching it. It was cheesy, dumb and dull. Best comedy of 1999? Not hardly, that award goes to Election, which is 1000 times funnier than this piece of junk.

Possible spoiler:

Basic storyline, some loser becomes a house sitter for a male hooker after his fish become sick. After the loser breaks a bunch of stuff, he ends up having to become a hooker himself to pay for the damage. At this point even the least intelligent can figure out what will happen. Plus some cop keeps dropping his pants in front of the loser-hero, whatever he is, and is probably the least funniest thing I have scene in a comedy.

End spoiler.

I'm so glad I didn't pay to see this movie, otherwise, I would have felt ripped off. My advice: Don't watch it. If you like Adam Sandler and Tom Green, you will love this flick. If you prefer stuff that's funny, like Election and Wag the Dog, don't bother with this flick.

inane but amusing comedy

[Buddy-51 · 18 June 2000]

While watching `Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,' you may well find yourself laughing out loud from time to time – and hating yourself for it afterwards. For this lame brained comedy, beyond being incredibly juvenile and silly in its comedic temperament, also manages to be as politically incorrect as possible, using as its targets the obese, the handicapped and an assortment of social outcasts and misfits. And, although the ribbing is generally quite good-natured and even affectionate at times, one can't help but feel a little guilty about laughing.

The formula for the film adheres very closely to the one employed by virtually all "Saturday Night Live" or "Second City" alumni in their initial forays into big screen comedies. Once again we have the usual bumbling nerd trying to win acceptance as a `cool dude,' making a shambles of everything he touches, yet ultimately managing to garner the respect of his peers and the love of a beautiful woman. Rob Schneider plays the title role, a professional fish tank cleaner who, through a complicated series of circumstances, finds himself delving into the realm of `man whore' in order to earn some much needed money. The stupidity of the premise and the situations cannot be underestimated as Schneider is put through a series of pratfalls, misunderstandings and verbal slugfests that are often quite amusing almost in spite of themselves. It takes either a certain amount of daring or a shocking degree of insensitivity (or perhaps a little of both) to line up a series of jokes and sight gags aimed at people who suffer from obesity, Tourettes Syndrome, Narcolepsy, blindness and limb amputation - but this film does it. Somehow, though, the film manages to treat its characters with such a genial fondness that it never seems particularly harsh or mean spirited. Whether or not that mitigates the feeling of guilt resulting from one's laughter must, finally, be a matter of personal conscience I suppose.

Schneider plays the lead in a nicely relaxed fashion, not succumbing to the hyperbolic mugging that so many comics are prone to indulge in when faced with similar roles. And what a pleasant surprise to encounter Marlo Thomas of all people in an uncredited cameo appearance – and still looking like a knockout in her sexy lingerie.

`Deuce Bigalow' may not sit well with the easily offended or with those who prefer their comedy to be of a bit more - um, shall we say - cerebral nature. Still, unabashed silliness makes for a fun time every now and then and, in that spirit, this film deserves to be seen.

Not a bad start

[yinio · 7/10 · 2 May 2023]

Deuce Bigalow perfectly fits into the comedy genre, it has a bright and upbeat tone plus Schneider gives a skilled performance using great physical comedy. Norm MacDonald's acting style works well next to Rob Schneider's - they clearly have a great rapport! Allen Covert's brief cameo as a waiter was a nice surprise. A lot of the acting was actually pretty natural/not forced and I felt that most of the humour in Deuce Bigalow to be laugh-out-loud funny. For their first film, Happy Maddison already showcases visual slapstick humour really well and unexpected moments, like falling asleep mid-sentence or a quick adr line, never failed to make me laugh.

Entertaining, and Quite Insightful

[The-Sarkologist · 7/10 · 18 April 2021]

I still remember when this movie came out - it sounded pretty bad, and I certainly wasn't all that interested in watching a film about a male prostitute. Actually, when one comes to think about it, if being a prostitute is considered by many in society to be the bottom of the barrel, then being a male one comes across as being even lower. Moreso, the concept of the male prostitute seems to always be connected with homosexuality, and the passive participant at that.

However, what surprised me was that this film was nothing of the sort. Okay, back when the film was released the gay community was still fighting tooth and nail for recognition, and while they did appear in films, and in fact appeared in films not as something to be laughed at, it wasn't anywhere near as ubiquitous as it is today. Another thing is that the picture of the male prostitute is actually painted as being quite lucrative, though the people who perform the role tend to be incredibly attractive (something that is also the case where prostitution is legal).

The story goes that Deuce happens to be a guy that cleans fish tanks, though you get the impression that he knows an awful lot about fish as well. Anyway, he is summoned by a male prostitute, Antoine, because his really expensive fish is sick, and since Antoine is heading off overseas, he allows Deuce to stay at the house so that he can nurse the fish back to health. Unfortunately, because Deuce is playing around with Antoine's stuff, he ends up breaking the fish tank and he needs to get the money together to replace it - so, he decides to take up Antoine's profession.

The main theme behind this film is that there is much more to a human being than simply having sex. In fact, there is much more to Deuce's client's than just wanting to have sex. As it becomes evident, Deuce simply ends up spending time with them, and finding ways to make them feel comfortable. The thing with his clients is that they are all flawed, and because they are flawed they find it incredibly difficult to interact with other people - especially men. As such, they end up going to Antoine to feel better about themselves, though it ends up being the case that it isn't simply sex that they want, it is companionship, and respect.

That is one of the interesting things that this film raises, and that is how we look for perfection in potential partners, and that is usually in a physical sense. As such, those who are less than perfect tend to fall by the wayside. Okay, finding perfection is impossible, but what ends up happening is that we have a level that we won't drop below, and this leaves a large number of people out to the side, and unfortunately, more likely than not, they end up being women (though there are also a lot of men there as well, though that ends up being personality than anything else). What this film is reminding us is how we need to learn to respect all people, because there are elements in them that are good, and by simply writing them off because of their flaws shows how shallow we as humans can actually be.

Mind you, when I think about it, such a film no doubt is not going to be heavy on the sex, especially since this is something that you wouldn't expect coming from Deuce. In fact, this film comes out of Adam Sandler's company, so you pretty much can see his hands all over the production (and he even appears in it, uncredited). In a way it is one of those oddball comedies, and one that ended up being much better than my original, rather biased mind, considered it to be - especially how others pointed out that we shouldn't judge it by the title.

Another thing I really liked in the film was the character of TJ - the pimp, though he happens to be a pimp for the male prostitutes. He's one of those characters that I do particularly like. The other characters were pretty cool as well, especially some of the women who had particular flaws. Of course we also have Deuce, who happens to be the perfect gentleman, so it isn't all that surprising that we have the woman in the fish shop who just seems to think that she is too good for him (or rather that he is a bit of a sleaze, which honestly he his). Yeah, you could say that through this film he actually comes to learn more about women, and that they are more than simply objects to gawk at, or even trick into revealing certain parts of their bodies (though he doesn't change in some regards).

Oh, and this also applies to the men as well, especially with Detective Fowler, who spends the entire film asking Deuce if he thinks a certain part of his anatomy is abnormal. Deuce also works his magic with him, by reminding him that it works both ways, and they we need to accept who we are, because by accepting who we are means that others can accept us as well. The fact that he is ashamed of himself means that his wife begins to lose respect for him, and it ends up being a vicious cycle. In the same way that Deuce helped his clients learn to respect themselves, Deuce also helps Fowler respect himself, and in turn saves his marriage.

Yeah, it does go to the suggestion that a prostitute is actually partly a psychologist, and there is much, much more to the profession providing sexual services.

Can a vote of -5 be entered?

[Capri · 1/10 · 8 December 1999]

Gross and depressing. IF you happen to be a male between the ages of 13-16, the sex, body humor and "stupid human tricks" may be entertaining, but I don't understand why. Being female and over 4, it's moronic content wasn't even worth the time wasted by viewing this film.

Taking This Seriously Could Cause Your Head To Explode

[sddavis63 · 7/10 · 20 May 2001]

OK, let's start by stating the obvious: this movie is incredibly stupid; it contains humour which for the most part could be described as sophomoric at best; it pokes fun at disabilities ranging from eating disorders to Tourette's Syndrome (with a little narcolepsy thrown in just for the fun of it.) That being said, let's state one other obvious thing: it works, as long as you don't try to take it too seriously. There's no message here and no strongly developed plot. This movie is just meant to be fun - and it turns out that it is.

Rob Schneider is perfectly cast as the geeky fish tank cleaner Deuce Bigalow, who ends up - by accident! - working as a "man-whore" to earn money to fix the damages he's done to the real gigolo's expensive apartment. The supporting cast is wonderful. Who wouldn't laugh at Eddie Griffin as T.J. - Deuce's "man-pimp." Among the series of women Deuce is sent to satisfy, Amy Poehler caused great laughter as Ruth, suffering from Tourette's Syndrome, and the movie was absolutely stolen by Fluisa (played by Big Boy) the VERY heavy woman who is Deuce's first customer.

As I say, don't take this at all seriously. Just enjoy it, and let the laughs come. I rated it as a 7/10.

this is the last movie that we let the guys at school pick

[reborn77 · 1/10 · 26 March 2004]

I wasn't all that thrilled about seeing this movie, but I thought I would at least get a few laughs, especially since we were seeing it with a large group. I don't really remember laughing at all. I don't think anyone really did, except maybe once or twice, and not that laugh out loud so everyone can hear you sort of laugh.

Surprising, even the guys, who made up a majority of the group did not find this funny and agreed that they should never be allowed to pick what movie we see again.

And that's about it, nothing good to say, it is obvious they were just going for some laughs, nothing special about the directing or cinematography.

Tasteless,immature and funny as hell

[yasenkiranov · 7/10 · 31 December 2012]

"Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" is actually a very funny movie.I'm not familiar with Rob Schneider's other work,but in this movie he turns in a great performance.

The Plot of the film is very implausible and requires a complete suspense of disbelief.The romance story feels forced and unnatural,but that wasn't really the focus of the movie.That,I think,is one of the main reasons the critics were so harsh on this film-"Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" isn't a clever satire or a cute romantic comedy,it's good old mindless entertainment at it's finest.Sure there are some tasteless jokes in the film,but come on, this isn't a film meant to be taken seriously.

"Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" is a funny and enjoyable comedy,but nothing more.I recommend it for good laughs.

Rob Schneider sinks to new depths

[OldAle1 · 1/10 · 3 May 2007]

This is not a typical movie for me, as you will guess if you've read a few of my previous reviews. In fact, you might wonder, what the hell are you doing watching this mainstream high-concept adolescent puffery, Mr. Pretentious? Sick and lazy and it happened to be on TV, that's why. And every once in a while, ya gotta sort of clear the palate, as the saying goes; like, every once in while I have to drink a crappy American lager in between all the fancy Belgian ale I drink, just to be reminded...

Of how bad it gets. I didn't laugh one time during this piece of garbage; in fact, I don't think I cracked a smile once. I didn't expect to like it that much, but it managed to fall below even my very low expectations; some of it may just be a matter of taste, and I never liked Rob Schneider, never liked him very much on SNL and haven't ever been tempted to watch any of his other movies.

Schneider plays the title character, whose name seems chosen to evoke "Ace Ventura" and also to rhyme with "gigolo." That's a problem right away: unless I missed something, the name is never explained; who the hell is named "Deuce", and have you ever seen the last name "Bigalow"? This might seem nitpicking, except that this attempt at comedy betrays at every turn one of the cardinal rules of the genre: give the audience something and someone to identify with. It's hard to think of any successful comedies that don't have at least one "everyman" and at least a couple of believable set pieces for anarchy and comedic distractions to revolve around. This film has none of that; every character from Deuce down to the most minor, and nearly every scene seems to exist outside of reality as well. The most extreme example is probably that of William Forsythe's cop character who pulls out his penis for no plausible reason every time he runs into Deuce.

The "plot" certainly doesn't help matters; loser aquarium cleaner Deuce plays "man whore" for three weeks to raise money to clean up super-gigolo Antoine's fab seaside pad after Deuce accidentally messes it up while goofing around despite Antoine's repeated admonitions of painful death should the place not look perfect on his return (Deuce was supposed to look after it). He goes out with a succession of loser women who all for some reason end up liking him, raises money last minute, keeps from going to jail when we find out that he didn't actually f&&k any of these women (and this is one of the stupidest plot points in the movie...it comes out of left field and just serves to try to make us like the guy when there has been no reason to at all up to this point). Oh, and of course he falls in love with, and attains the least-deformed, most beautiful of his "Jills." The humor is uniformly sub-sophomoric and offensive; the film is filled with an array of disabled and ethnic characters who are entirely defined by their stereotypes and who never become "people" despite Deuce's apparent inner sweetness and attempts to make friends with them. The word "manwhore" seems designed for a big laugh every time it is spoken...but after twenty times, it's pretty damn old.

This is clearly not a film designed for me, though I question the taste of ANYONE who claims to like it; another proof if one were needed that the adolescent/teen-oriented gross-out comedy is the most pathetic example we have of the denigration of commercial American film.

Funniest and most inventive comedy of 1999

[sammohung · 10/10 · 21 September 2000]

which is as much a commentary on the state of American cinema as it is on the quality of this surprising film. Thoroughly enjoyable as long as you're not looking for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Deuce Bigalow provides a deft blend of juvenille humor and inventive verbal humor and situational gags. I have to say that it has one of the funniest "reconcilation" scenes in a romantic comedy that I have seen in a long time. But the great thing about this movie is that Rob Schneider has created a couple of really memorable and unique characters. On top of that, there are many wonderful and touching moments hidden beneath the more obvious jokes and the many throwaway gags.

Funny movie with a good heart

[Doom · 6/10 · 31 January 2002]

Yeah, this film can be gross at times, but it's pretty funny most of the time, as well as being hip and has a good heart. Not to mention, it contains the song Lift Me Up by Jeff Lynne (ELO), so what more could you ask for? :)

cheesy

[foxfatale · 4/10 · 2 January 2000]

my friend thought it was hilarious. occasionally I laughed, but mostly I yawned. you ended up rolling your eyes at some parts that you knew were supposed to be funny. guys should see 'deuce,' especially if the movie's message hits home, but I can't sincerely recommend this to females.