American Gigolo review: Jon Bernthal smolders through a gloomy new hustle

Paul Schrader's 1980 film American Gigolo is a stylish time capsule, an unhurried story about an in-demand paid companion (Richard Gere) who is all but abandoned when he needs help the most. In Showtime's American Gigolo, Jon Bernthal assumes the title role, and the eight-episode adaptation takes the film's structural bones and builds out a standard-issue thriller adorned with bleak themes of child sex trafficking.

The new series from David Hollander (Ray Donovan) imagines that Julian was not exonerated by a luminous Lauren Hutton and instead served 15 years for the murder of a wealthy client that he didn't commit. Surprised with an early release, Julian — now a soft-spoken, sinewy ex-con dotted with prison tattoos — knows the smartest thing to do would be to slip back into society unnoticed. But he can't stop himself from digging into the past, tracking down the love of his life, Michelle (Gretchen Mol), and searching for the person (or people) who ruined his life. Julian's old buddy Lorenzo (Wayne Brady), meanwhile, is eager to get him back on the hustler scene, while Detective Sunday (Rosie O'Donnell) still has questions about the botched case that put Julian behind bars.

The original American Gigolo was barely two hours long and short on actual character development. The blessing of a series adaptation is all the time it allows writers to fill in a vague and blurry backstory — but it can become a burden for viewers, especially since the current industry norm equates "mercilessly grim" with "quality TV." This Julian grew up in a trailer park, sexually exploited by a neighbor and sold to a madame (Better Call Saul's Sandrine Holt) by his mother (Melora Waters) as a teen. We're subjected to several upsetting flashbacks featuring a young Johnny (the baby-faced Gabriel LaBelle) as he navigates a perverse initiation into the world of high-priced prostitution.

It's a very 2022 take on a glossy '80s character, though the Blondie-heavy soundtrack remains intact in this present-day story. Based on the three episodes made available for review, Hollander wasn't interested in a meditative character study about surviving sexual abuse. (Showtime parted ways with the showrunner in April.) Instead, Gigolo immediately drops a new mystery in Detective Sunday's lap involving Michelle's son, who gets into a little May-December trouble of his own with a comely teacher (Laura Liguori). More blech for your buck, I suppose.

Bernthal specializes in brooding sex appeal, and he's well-cast as Julian, a handsome lowlife who cleans up real nice and keeps his pain buried under a pair of bulging pecs. Maybe subsequent episodes will expand Julian's story beyond the who-framed-me-and-why basics; Bernthal can be electric when given the right material. For now, the best thing about Gigolo is O'Donnell's splendidly wry turn as Detective Sunday. Stone-faced and steely, barking out dialogue in her staccato New York squawk, O'Donnell manages to bring some much-needed levity to this somber affair. Here's an idea, Showtime: Hire someone to write Rosie O'Donnell her Mare of Easttown vehicle. It may not sound as sexy as Gigolo, but it's likely to be a lot more satisfying. C+

American Gigolo premieres Friday, Sept. 9, on Showtime.

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