The “American Gigolo” of 2022 holds its own as an engrossing murder mystery that plays out across present-day Los Angeles and over a series of flashbacks to the late 1990s and early 2000s. ... [Bernthal is] also surprisingly convincing as a traumatized, near-broken man who‘s never had control over his own life.

Bernthal is convincing as both a 30-year-old Julian in over his head, and as the 45-year-old ex-convict trying to put his life back together, and O’Donnell is a surprisingly natural fit as a hardboiled detective. But the unanswered questions driving the story are just not as suspenseful as the show seems to think. Ultimately, American Gigolo is a dour show that seems disinterested in capturing the spirit of what made the original a hit.

Perhaps as it clarifies its central mystery and all too slowly weaves together the many strands it’s initially setting up, American Gigolo may emerge as a provocative proposition. As it stands, from the three episodes we watched, it doesn’t quite live up to its infamous title.

I really can’t overstate how bizarre this version is. ... It creates a misogynistic fantasy of its own, not to mention borrowing from Q’s corrosive idea that sex trafficking is an underground network servicing an elite clientele. This American Gigolo is wild where the old one was steadfastly subdued, but I’m not sure the new Julian Kay is any closer to a man who ever really lived.

A dolorous, oxygen-starved eight-episode series.

The [opening] sequence is just about as good as the show gets. While the original film captured the zeitgeist of its era, all the series has going for it–besides a charismatic performance from its reliably great lead–is nostalgia. ... An otherwise superfluous sequel. And if there’s one thing that snuffs out an erotic thriller even faster than nostalgia, it’s the choice to play it safe.

The ambition-free, utterly indistinct, and borderline misogynistic “American Gigolo” still exhibits a worst-case scenario. There’s nothing winning here, but plenty to be sad about.