# Gigli
**Gigli** is a 2003 American romantic comedy crime film directed and written by [Martin Brest](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-brest), starring [Ben Affleck](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-affleck) as low-level mob enforcer Larry Gigli and [Jennifer Lopez](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-lopez) as Ricki, a lesbian gangster assigned to supervise his kidnapping assignment. Produced by Revolution Studios and distributed by Columbia Pictures, it opened on August 1, 2003 to near-unanimous critical revulsion and a box-office collapse, and it is widely cited as one of the principal commercial failures of major-studio production history.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299930/) • [2](https://thewritingking.com/movies/gigli-2003/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | August 1, 2003, wide, on 2,215 theaters; DVD December 9, 2003 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gigli) |
| Budget and gross | Production budget $54,000,000 (some sources give about $75 million); worldwide gross $7,266,209, of which $6,087,542 domestic[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299930/) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0299930/) • [2](https://thewritingking.com/movies/gigli-2003/) |
| Opening weekend | $3,753,518, 61.7% of the total domestic gross; the film fell 82% in its second weekend and averaged a 2.0-week run per theater[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gigli) |
| Critical reception | 6% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 185 reviews and 14% from audiences; Metacritic score of 19[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gigli) • [6](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5149741_Does_Film_Criticism_Affect_Box_Office_Earnings_Evidence_from_Movies_Released_in_the_US_in_2003) |
| Razzie Awards | First film to sweep the top five Razzie categories: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Affleck), Worst Actress (Lopez), Worst Director (Brest), and Worst Screenplay (Brest)[7](https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-look-back-at-gigli-the-infamous-bennifer-starring-film-on-its-10th-anniversary/?source=dictionary) |
| Rating and runtime | Rated R for sexual content, pervasive language, and brief strong violence; about 121 minutes[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gigli) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299930/) |
| Aftermath | Effectively ended Martin Brest's directorial career; he has not completed another feature in the more than two decades since[2](https://thewritingking.com/movies/gigli-2003/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and cast
Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck) is a Los Angeles loan shark's enforcer ordered by his employer to kidnap Brian ([Justin Bartha](https://www.edgepedia.org/justin-bartha)), the psychologically challenged younger brother of a powerful federal prosecutor, to force the prosecutor to drop charges against a mob boss ([Al Pacino](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-pacino) as Starkman). When the assignment goes awry, the boss sends Ricki (Jennifer Lopez), an independent-minded female gangster with her own orders, to make sure Gigli completes the job; Gigli begins falling for her, which threatens the operation.[8](https://www.movieinsider.com/m114/gigli) • [9](https://watch.afi.com/movie/gigli)
The supporting cast includes [Christopher Walken](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-walken) as Detective Stanley Jacobellis, Lainie Kazan as Gigli's mother, Missy Crider as Robin, and Lenny Venito as Louis.[10](https://bingebase.com/movies/gigli-2003) Brest's earlier credits included *Beverly Hills Cop* (1984), *Midnight Run* (1988), and *Scent of a Woman* (1992).[2](https://thewritingking.com/movies/gigli-2003/)
## Production and release
The film was produced by [Revolution Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/revolution-studios) with Casey Silver and Martin Brest as producers, photographed by Robert Elswit, edited by Billy Weber and Julie Monroe, and scored by [John Powell](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-powell).[11](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62741-GIGLI) Because the title was easily mispronounced, the film was briefly called *Tough Love* during production, but Affleck and others preferred the original title.[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-30-et-horn30-story.html)
The path to release was chronicled in unusual detail. From early test screenings, where Brest clashed with Revolution studio chief [Joe Roth](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-roth) over the film's final act and pace, to tabloid coverage of the stars' off-screen romance, nearly every step was reported online and in the mainstream press; early internet reviews of the incomplete film were repeated in mainstream media, a development the studio never fully recovered from.[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-30-et-horn30-story.html) Affleck later said the film underwent five weeks of reshoots and admitted that, in general, it "doesn't work" as a movie.[13](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/ben-affleck-gigli-jennifer-lopez-directing)
## Box office failure
Gigli opened on August 1, 2003 in 2,215 theaters and earned $3,753,518 over its first weekend, 61.7% of what its total domestic gross would be. The second weekend fell 82% to $678,640, and by the third weekend the theater count had dropped to 73. Domestic grosses finished at $6,087,542, with international receipts of about $1.0 to $1.2 million, against a production budget reported at $54,000,000 by IMDb, Box Office Mojo, and The Numbers, though several accounts give a figure of approximately $75 million.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gigli) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0299930/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299930/) • [2](https://thewritingking.com/movies/gigli-2003/) Worldwide gross was roughly one tenth of the production budget.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gigli)
The film debuted "dismally following weeks of toxic buzz and near-unanimous critical revulsion," in the words of an Associated Press report at the time.[14](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sex-sells-at-the-box-office/) A study of 2003 releases notes that Gigli opened on 2,215 screens, received dreadful reviews (a Metacritic score of 19), and played for only two weeks.[6](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5149741_Does_Film_Criticism_Affect_Box_Office_Earnings_Evidence_from_Movies_Released_in_the_US_in_2003)
## Critical reception and awards
The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus calls the film "bizarre and clumsily plotted" and says Affleck and Lopez lack chemistry; the Tomatometer stood at 6% from 185 reviews, with a 14% audience score.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gigli) Reviewers identified the script as the central problem: Neil Norman of the *London Evening Standard* wrote that "the serious problem with Gigli is the script," and Screen's review described a script that "jumps from absurdity to absurdity without enough comedy to distract audiences from the absence of dramatic development."[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gigli) • [15](https://www.screendaily.com/gigli/4014407.article)
At the 2004 [Golden Raspberry Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-raspberry-awards), Gigli became the first film in history to sweep the top five Razzie categories, winning Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Actress, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay; it later received Worst Comedy of Our First 25 Years at the Razzies' 25th annual ceremony.[7](https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-look-back-at-gigli-the-infamous-bennifer-starring-film-on-its-10th-anniversary/?source=dictionary) • [13](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/ben-affleck-gigli-jennifer-lopez-directing)
Not all contemporaneous critics ranked it at the extreme. [Chicago Tribune](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-tribune) critic Michael Wilmington argued in August 2003 that while Gigli was a failed, over-reaching romantic comedy, its reputation as an all-time catastrophe was a backlash against the celebrity of its stars rather than a measured artistic judgment.[16](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-15-et-wilmington15-story.html)
## Cultural aftermath
The film's most durable consequence came off screen. Affleck and Lopez, who met on the set, began a heavily publicized romance that produced the tabloid phenomenon "Bennifer"; Affleck later said the film was caught up in overexposure of the couple, which he called the film's greatest marketing liability.[17](https://time.com/6146965/jennifer-lopez-best-movies/) • [18](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/ben-affleck-jlo-romance-gigli-panned-critics) • [12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-30-et-horn30-story.html) Miramax delayed the release of *Jersey Girl* (2004), another Affleck-Lopez romantic comedy, to distance it from the panning.[19](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/03/filmnews.film)
For Brest, the failure ended a career of commercial successes: he has not completed another feature in the more than two decades since.[2](https://thewritingking.com/movies/gigli-2003/) The title itself entered commentary as shorthand for a massive box-office flop, and the film continues to be referenced primarily as a commercial catastrophe rather than through independent creative engagement.[20](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/8518/gigli/) • [2](https://thewritingking.com/movies/gigli-2003/) Affleck, reflecting in 2022, called the film "a gift" for introducing him to Lopez and for giving him directing experience.[13](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/ben-affleck-gigli-jennifer-lopez-directing)
## References
1. [Gigli (2003), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299930/)
2. [Gigli (2003) Review, The Writing King](https://thewritingking.com/movies/gigli-2003/)
3. [Gigli (2003), Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gigli)
4. [Gigli (2003), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0299930/)
5. [Gigli, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gigli)
6. [Does Film Criticism Affect Box Office Earnings? Evidence from Movies Released in the U.S. in 2003, ResearchGate](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5149741_Does_Film_Criticism_Affect_Box_Office_Earnings_Evidence_from_Movies_Released_in_the_US_in_2003)
7. [A Look Back at 'Gigli' on Its 10th Anniversary, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-look-back-at-gigli-the-infamous-bennifer-starring-film-on-its-10th-anniversary/?source=dictionary)
8. [Everything You Need to Know About Gigli Movie (2003), MovieInsider](https://www.movieinsider.com/m114/gigli)
9. [Gigli, American Film Institute](https://watch.afi.com/movie/gigli)
10. [Gigli (2003) Streaming & VOD Release Date, Bingebase](https://bingebase.com/movies/gigli-2003)
11. [Gigli (2003), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62741-GIGLI)
12. [No such thing as bad publicity? Consider 'Gigli', Los Angeles Times (July 30, 2003)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-30-et-horn30-story.html)
13. [Ben Affleck Calls the Gigli Flop a Gift, W Magazine (January 12, 2022)](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/ben-affleck-gigli-jennifer-lopez-directing)
14. [Sex Sells At The Box Office, CBS News/AP (August 4, 2003)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sex-sells-at-the-box-office/)
15. [Gigli review, Screen Daily (August 1, 2003)](https://www.screendaily.com/gigli/4014407.article)
16. [Stop giggling, 'Gigli' isn't that bad, Los Angeles Times (August 15, 2003)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-15-et-wilmington15-story.html)
17. [The 16 Best J. Lo Movies Of All Time, Time](https://time.com/6146965/jennifer-lopez-best-movies/)
18. [Ben Affleck Gets Real About How His And JLo's Romance Played Into Gigli Getting Panned By Critics, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/ben-affleck-jlo-romance-gigli-panned-critics)
19. [J-Lo and Ben's £30m turkey is carved up, The Guardian (August 2, 2003)](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/03/filmnews.film)
20. [Gigli DVD review, DVD Talk (December 2003)](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/8518/gigli/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2000 to 2002*
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