Rent A Man: Ein Mann für gewisse Sekunden (1999)

Rent A Man: Ein Mann für gewisse Sekunden: Directed by Mike Mitchell. With Rob Schneider, William Forsythe, Eddie Griffin, Arija Bareikis. An average aquarium cleaner house-sits for a gigolo, only to be forced to become one himself.

“While watching `Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,u0026#39; you may well find yourself laughing out loud from time to time – and hating yourself for it afterwards. For this lame brained comedy, beyond being incredibly juvenile and silly in its comedic temperament, also manages to be as politically incorrect as possible, using as its targets the obese, the handicapped and an assortment of social outcasts and misfits. And, although the ribbing is generally quite good-natured and even affectionate at times, one canu0026#39;t help but feel a little guilty about laughing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe formula for the film adheres very closely to the one employed by virtually all u0026quot;Saturday Night Liveu0026quot; or u0026quot;Second Cityu0026quot; alumni in their initial forays into big screen comedies. Once again we have the usual bumbling nerd trying to win acceptance as a `cool dude,u0026#39; making a shambles of everything he touches, yet ultimately managing to garner the respect of his peers and the love of a beautiful woman. Rob Schneider plays the title role, a professional fish tank cleaner who, through a complicated series of circumstances, finds himself delving into the realm of `man whoreu0026#39; in order to earn some much needed money. The stupidity of the premise and the situations cannot be underestimated as Schneider is put through a series of pratfalls, misunderstandings and verbal slugfests that are often quite amusing almost in spite of themselves. It takes either a certain amount of daring or a shocking degree of insensitivity (or perhaps a little of both) to line up a series of jokes and sight gags aimed at people who suffer from obesity, Tourettes Syndrome, Narcolepsy, blindness and limb amputation – but this film does it. Somehow, though, the film manages to treat its characters with such a genial fondness that it never seems particularly harsh or mean spirited. Whether or not that mitigates the feeling of guilt resulting from oneu0026#39;s laughter must, finally, be a matter of personal conscience I suppose.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSchneider plays the lead in a nicely relaxed fashion, not succumbing to the hyperbolic mugging that so many comics are prone to indulge in when faced with similar roles. And what a pleasant surprise to encounter Marlo Thomas of all people in an uncredited cameo appearance – and still looking like a knockout in her sexy lingerie. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e`Deuce Bigalowu0026#39; may not sit well with the easily offended or with those who prefer their comedy to be of a bit more – um, shall we say – cerebral nature. Still, unabashed silliness makes for a fun time every now and then and, in that spirit, this film deserves to be seen.”