The ups and downs of being a gigolo

A MAN decides to pimp his friend on a whim and faster than you can say Deuce Bigalow, the crass male prostitute played by Rob Schneider in the critically panned but commercially successful comedy duology of the same name, the idea transforms into a lucrative business.

That's the basic premise of Fading Gigolo, a raunchy-sounding sex comedy that won't be out of place in Judd Apatow's territory with, say, the men-child dream team of Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler playing the pair of BFFs.

But in the hands of writer-director-actor John Turturro, the plot gets a more sensitive adult treatment though the charm of this lightweight rom-com possesses insufficient momentum to see it through to the final reel.