Grade: B

On the surface “Fading Gigolo” doesn’t sound particularly promising. After all, it’s about a failed book dealer recruiting his friend, a part-time florist, to become a lover-for-hire to needy women. The possibilities of what might develop from such a premise are pretty horrendous. But contrary to expectations, the film turns out to be a sensitive, often touching yet funny fable about people searching for connection in lives that have grown increasingly solitary and unsatisfying.

Part of the reason for its success is the setting—an area of New York City with a very Woody Allen ambience. That’s hardly a surprise, since Allen offered suggestions about the script to John Turturro, who actually wrote the screenplay, and also plays Murray Schwartz, the rare book seller who’s forced to close his shop after many years in the trade. In a casual conversation with Fioravante (Turturro), who’s known Schwartz since his boyhood, Murray remarks that Dr. Parker (Sharon Stone), his wealthy dermatologist, had mentioned her interest in a three-way involving her, a female friend (Sofia Vergara), and a man other than her husband, and he suggests that Fioravante might be a perfect choice for the job. Initially Fioravante is taken aback at the idea, of course, but eventually agrees; and his quiet, solicitous demeanor proves a distinct change for Parker, who’s apparently accustomed to something brasher and more mechanical.

Thus is a business partnership born, and Murray, fussing over the monetary needs of his family, identifies another possible client in Avigal (Vanessa Paradis), the beautiful young widow of a Hasidic rabbi and the mother to six children. Murray senses her loneliness during an appointment to have his kids de-loused, and arranges a session for her with Fioravante that consists of nothing more than a back massage but reawakens in the fragile woman, controlled by the constraints imposed on her by the highly regimented community to which she belongs, a longing for human contact. And Fioravante finds himself moved by her as well.

Avigal’s uncharacteristic trips beyond the neighborhood catch the eye of Dovi (Live Schreiber), a neighborhood-watch officer who’s clearly enamored of her but unable to express his feelings. His investigation of what’s going on eventually results in Murray’s being hauled before a Hasidic court where he and his amiable lawyer (Bob Balaban) find themselves questioned by a trio of stern elders. The outcome is not what one might expect.

Turturro and Allen prove a nifty couple here, with the latter generating chuckles if not belly laughs with his usual snappy patter and nervous delivery, while the former—hardly a matinee-idol type—exudes a tender, gentle side that one can actually believe women find attractive. (Fioravante’s way with women is further demonstrated by his affable relationship—outside the escort orbit—with a lovely Tunisian singer played by M’Barka Ben Taleb. Meanwhile Paradis brings a soulful quality to Avigal and Stone a pragmatic edge to Parker. Schreiber, meanwhile, makes Dovi convincingly bewildered, and Balaban contributes a delicious cameo as Schwartz’s lawyer. The supporting cast is filled with memorable types, with David Margulies, Abe Altman and Sol Frieder standouts as the ancient rabbis in the courtroom sequence.

The picture is technically proficient, with lenser Marco Pontecorvo making fine use of the New York locations and the interiors realized by production designer Lester Cohen, art director Sarah Frank and set decorator Sheila Bock. Simona Paggi’s editing lets the story unfold in a leisurely fashion, even when Allen is stammering, and the score by Abraham Laboriel and Bill Maxwell mixes nicely with the pop tunes selected by music supervisor Chris Robertson.

With its potentially unsavory premise and mixture of comic and dramatic overtones, “Fading Gigolo” is a cinematic high-wire act that constantly threatens to slip into tastelessness but manages to keep its footing, emerging as amusing and even moving.