Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have become household names, both as a newly-married celebrity couple and as individual celebrities. Before the second act of Affleck and Lopez’s love story, the pair had made an accidental bit of cinematic history together with Gigli, the now-notorious romantic comedy that debuted in 2003. Gigli has been met with a ton of backlash from viewers in the years since its premiere, and it looks like even the film’s director, Martin Brest, doesn’t view it too highly.
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“Of all the movies that I’ve worked on, I know them inside and out,” Brest said of Gigli in a recent interview with Variety. “I don’t even know what that movie looks like, frankly, because of the manner in which it took shape. Even the name… I refer to it as ‘the G movie.’ Probably the less said about it the better.
What Is Gigli About?
In Gigli, Larry Gigli is assigned by a crime boss to kidnap the brother of a prominent district attorney. A beautiful woman known only as Ricki is sent to stay with him to make sure he doesn’t mess up the job. The film also starred Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Justin Bartha.
“The movie originally started very differently from what seems like the beginning now,” Brest explained elsewhere in the interview. “I wonder if ever a movie had been changed that much… I’m sure it has in the history of Hollywood, but it was changed so radically. When it came to finishing that movie, I remember the composer came up with a piece of music and played it, and he looked at me for my reaction. I said, “I knew why this scene used to be in the movie and what its purpose was. I don’t have any idea why it’s in the movie now.” The themes of the movie were radically different. The plot was different. The purpose of the movie was different. But I can’t escape blame. [But] it’s so weird — I literally don’t remember the movie that was released, because I wasn’t underneath it in the way I was under the hood of all my other movies. So it’s really a bloody mess that deserved its excoriation.”
“Extensive disagreements between the studio and myself got to the point where post-production was shut down for eight months while we battled it out,” Brest continued. “In the end I was left with two choices: quit or be complicit in the mangling of the movie. To my eternal regret I didn’t quit, so I bear responsibility for a ghastly cadaver of a movie. Once key scenes were cut it became like a joke with its punchline removed, endless contortions could never create the illusion that what remained was intended. Extensive reshooting and re-editing turned characters, scenes, story and tone upside down in the futile attempt to make the increasing mess resemble a movie. For the first time in my career I had become a true collaborator — not in the benign, creative sense, but rather that of one who, in violation of their true allegiances, cooperates with occupying forces. And for that kind of compromise, self-castigations far exceed any possible public ones. ”
Are Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez Working on a New Movie?
Earlier this year, Affleck confirmed reports that Lopez will be starring in the upcoming biopic Unstoppable, which will be produced by his and Matt Damon’s production company, Artists Equity. Unstoppable will also star Jharrel Jerome in the role of Anthony Robles, a real-life wrestler who was born without his right leg, and went on to become a three-time All-American wrestler.
“What fun, what a joy to do something with her, see her be great, go to work with your wife, go to work with your best friend,” Affleck explained. “If you don’t like who you’re working with, and if you have difficulty or trouble at work, I think it’s one of the things that can really cause depression, anxiety and pain for people.”
What do you think of Martin Brest’s new comments about Gigli? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
