What Man Wouldn’t Want to be The French Gigolo?

I am a sucker for a good French movie. And how can I resist a title like “The French Gigolo?” In this 2008 movie, a very attractive fifty-something woman television producer decides that to take the path of least resistance…and hires gigolos every month or so.

We meet Patrick, (who turns out to be named Marcos) in a park, where he casually asks for a cigarette, then a light, and then we see the rocking station wagon at the car park. Oh, I get it.

But despite what every male on the planet might think is the world’s best job, the film teaches us that having sex for a living is no picnic. And not everyone can get this gig, we learn, after a sinewy man sidles up to Patrick in the subway asking how he can get in on the action. The poor guy can only get men to pay him, but when he grins you see those bad teeth are going to keep any woman away.

Marcos struggles to keep his day job a secret. He’s given lots of toys like a video camera that he gives to his niece, living with him and his wife crammed into a crowded apartment, and she never ceases to film each and every awkward moment. The jig’s almost up when Fanny, the wife, finds out what Marcos is doing to help pay for her hair salon and how he’s carrying the whole crew on his meager wages. She needs the money, but can’t bear the jealousy.

See, it’s not that easy having sex for a living. At the film’s end we think Marcos will settle down with the attractive TV infomercial woman, and they begin to forget the money for the sex part. But predicatably, it’s not as easy as that, and he leaves her to go back to his wife. This time I think he’ll pick a new way to moonlight for the rent money.