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Fiona Sturges. Kaye howls his innocence but, since the evidence points to him, he pleads guilty in exchange for a shorter sentence. Fast-forward to the present day and Kaye, now sporting tattoos and a cartoonish handlebar moustache, gets a visit in prison from Sunday, who reveals that a hitman has had an attack of guilt on his deathbed and confessed to the murder.
As well as following the exonerated Kaye as he rebuilds his life, it provides flashbacks to his younger days, swaggering around Los Angeles with a series of wealthy, older women on his arm, among them the married Michelle Gretchen Mol , with whom he unexpectedly falls in love. A third narrative centres on Kaye as year-old being pimped out to a neighbour by his feckless mother and eventually handed over to Olga, a top-flight madam known in the business as The Queen.
While there is mileage in Kaye as a character study, there is a lethargic quality to the early episodes as our hero drifts from place to place, trying not to get drawn back into his old ways. The existence of this bizarrely tacked-on subplot points to a fundamental problem with the all-new American Gigolo : the story of an upmarket escort set up for murder is fine for a minute film, but a tall order for a part series.
Even so, the overwhelming sense here is of material being stretched thin and a reboot yet to offer any justification for its existence. Manage cookies. The best of TV and streaming this week. Currently reading:. Share on twitter opens new window Share on facebook opens new window Share on linkedin opens new window Share on whatsapp opens new window.
