THE YEAR OF SCHADENFREUDE CONTINUES: First Trent Lott, then Martha, then Bill Bennett, then Howell Raines- now Ben and Jen. Yes, "Gigli" has taken its place among the great flops in Hollywood history, and legions of Affeck/J.Lo haters are thrilled.
The last time Affleck starred in a movie in which he successfully seduced the ostensibly lesbian female lead (1997's "Chasing Amy"), I was a college freshman and Kevin Smith fanatic who jumped at the chance to interview the then-unknown actor for the school newspaper. Affleck at the time was a prince of a guy, who was still with his high school sweetheart and opined that "I try not to date actresses, because they're all insane." Sixth months later he had jettisoned "Cheyenne" and taken up with Gwyneth Paltrow, prior to developing a reputation as a world-class prick, but nevermind; I still have the article, in which Ben talks about "this movie we're making soon called 'Good Will Hunting.'"
If you've got an hour or two to kill at work, check out the Rotten Tomatoes reviews of "Gigli"; there's some great stuff there, with the gold medal quote coming from Stephen Witty of the Newark Star Ledger:
Such an utter wreck of a movie you expect to see it lying on its side somewhere in rural Pennsylvania, with a small gang of engineers circling and a wisp of smoke rising from the caboose.
Anyway, I'm actually tempted to see the film, just to cackle at it, and obtain actual proof that the Lopez character really does spread her legs and speak the line "it's turkey time- gobble! gobble!"
Posted by Stephen Silver at August 5, 2003 10:36 PM