Gigli is a romantic comedy with lots of action released in 2003 and is known for being one of the most infamous films, both in terms of critical reception and box office performance.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck lead the plot, which follows Larry Gigli, a small-time hitman, and Ricki, a hired assassin. The movie was directed and written by two-time Oscar-nominated Martin Brest (Scent of a Woman).
It received overwhelmingly negative reviews and is often considered one of the biggest failures in the history of cinema. However, it has also developed a kind of cult following due to its reputation as “so bad, it’s good”.
How to watch Gigli on streaming
Currently, Gigli is available for streaming in the United States through Hulu and Tubi. These are the only two platforms that have the title in their catalogs. If you want to watch it on other services, such as Prime Video or Apple TV, you can only do so by renting or purchasing it.
Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck and Mel Bouzad in Gigli. (Source: IMDb)
The plot revolves around Gigli, who is tasked with kidnapping the disabled brother of a federal prosecutor to prevent a key witness from testifying in a trial. As he attempts to carry out this mission, he encounters Ricki, another hired assassin, and a complicated love story unfolds between the two characters.
The movie was harshly criticized for its script, direction, and especially for the chemistry between the lead actors, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, who were a real-life couple at that time. Gigli received numerous Razzie Awards, which recognize the worst in cinema, including Worst Picture and Worst Screen Couple.
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Despite its initial poor reception, it has gained a certain cult status over time due to its reputation as “so bad, it’s good”. Over time, it has become a topic of discussion and has been seen by some as an example of how a production can go wrong on multiple levels.
Why was Gigli considered bad?
Gigli was widely considered bad for various reasons, and its negative reception was due to multiple factors. At the time, many critics and viewers found the script to be weak, and Martin Brest‘s direction failed to give coherence to the story.
Furthermore, the romantic relationship between the leads, played by Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, was deemed forced and lacking authenticity. Although the couple was together in real life at that time, their chemistry did not effectively translate on screen.
The movie garnered intense media attention before its release due to the real-life relationship between Affleck and Lopez. This attention heightened expectations, but the film failed to meet those hopes and instead became a subject of ridicule.
Jennifer Lopez talked about working with Ben Affleck
On Tuesday, February 13, 2024, Jennifer Lopez reminisced about her time in Gigli during an interview with Variety and confessed that she is willing to make a sequel. While reflecting on her greatest hits, she had to talk about the action movie and revealed that it was where she met Ben Affleck.
“The first time I met him on that movie was during the reading. They did a full read-through of everything, and I remember just walking in, and I think he was outside, smoking a cigarette, and I saw him, and we talked for a minute, and then I went and sat down, and we did the read-through. I don’t remember much more about it, but I remember being on the set with him every day and loving him”, she shared.
According to People, when the singer was asked if she would work again with her current husband, she confessed, “I don’t know, in the right thing, maybe, in the right thing. I mean, we love working together and being together, so maybe“.
Martin Brest confesses that Gigli was a disaster
According to Rolling Stone magazine, in a new interview with Variety, the director said he doesn’t even call “Gigli” by its name and that the project started out quite differently from its outcome, labeling it as “a bloody mess that deserved its excoriation.”
“Of all the movies I’ve worked on, I know them inside and out. Frankly, I don’t even know what that movie is like because of the way it took shape. Even the name… I refer to it as ‘the G movie.’ Probably the less said about it, the better”, he confessed.
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Martin Brest goes on to explain that “originally, it started very differently. The themes of the movie were radically different. The plot was different. The purpose of the movie was different. But I can’t escape the blame. [But] it’s very weird: I literally don’t remember the movie that was released because I wasn’t under it like I was under the hood of all my other movies”.
