They're funny to some and offensive to others. They're full of crude humor. They're the two "Deuce Bigalow" films.
Comedian and actor Rob Schneider gave me, along with a number of other reporters across the country, a sneak peek at his new film, "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" earlier this year. The old movie is out on DVD, while its sequel opens Aug. 12.
The film is set a while after the point where its preceding film, "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," leaves off. The first movie tells the story of a man who gets the opportunity to watch a house. Along the way, he picks up the business of manwhoring as a way to make money and enjoy himself. Of course, for Bigalow, male prostitution is not as luxurious and erotic as he had originally imagined.
Rather than sleeping with the women he meets, Bigalow finds himself being forced to help them with their problems. The women have their fair share of problems, from having fake limbs to yelling out obscenities at random. Deuce realizes that being a male gigolo is not the best profession for him. In the second film, Bigalow is now in Europe because prostitutes are being killed there, and his assistance is needed.
Schneider said he decided to do this sequel after there seemed to be a good response to the first "Deuce Bigalow." Featured in this sequel are more strange women that Deuce is in charge of pleasuring. One of the women that Rob mentions is a lady from Chernobyl who has a male appendage attached to her face. To keep things from getting any stranger, she wears a veil to conceal the manhood. Also, in "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo," Anton (the gigolo from the first film) makes a cameo to give Deuce a few pointers on oral sex. Schneider said he does not ad lib during the film, and keeps to the script as much as he can. He said that as long as he thinks it is funny, and some of his comedy-writing friends agree, then the film should sit well with audiences.
Some of the comedy of the first "Deuce Bigalow" and in its sequel could seem distasteful to some. Schneider said he believes people should be open to everything, since we are living in a world of censorship. The raunchy comedy was an issue because Disney made the first film. Disney dropped "European Gigolo" and Sony picked it up. Schneider spent about two years working on it, and the business move helped save the film. Some of the potentially questionable comedy in the second film includes bizarre sexual techniques like the "Belgium Steamer" and "Bavarian Brownie." Although I have never heard of these, I can't help but wonder about them.
For all of you who are wondering where the character Deuce Bigalow came from and if he is based on a real person, one of the reporters at our discussion asked Schneider that very question, only to be disappointed to find that Bigalow is just a made-up character. Schneider said Bigalow is just an ordinary guy put into extraordinary situations. Most of his inspiration for the character comes from a lack of sleep, he added.
"Go to bed late and wake up early" if you want to make things seem funnier, he said.
For the most part, I recommend that viewers see "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" for laughs and keep an open mind to what it has to offer.
Reach the reporter at brian.kirshman@asu.edu.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was modified July 23 to include the release date of the "European Gigolo" film.
