Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Saygin is a handsome, strapping sex worker, whose clientele is largely rich, old women in need for some spice and entertainment in their lives. However, things get complicated for Saygin his wealthiest client, Serap (Senay Gürler), demands that he exclusively serve her, but he finds himself falling for her daughter’s beautiful best-friend Nehir (Ebru Sahin).
Directed by Onur Bilgetay, the Turkish Netflix movie “A True Gentleman” (Original title: Tam Bir Centilmen) miserably fails at being the raunchy romance it tries to be. While Çagatay Ulusoy is convincing as the charming Saygin, who looks like the Turkish Gatsby, the plot is blandly predictable in the first half and is further dragged down by his unbearable brother Kado (Haki Biçici), an obnoxious, arrogant good-for-nothing guy who treats women poorly and has a drug problem.
First off, Çagatay Ulusoy and Haki Biçici do not look like siblings at all, which is fine, but Haki’s Kado is like an older thug, with no charm whatsoever, yet Saygin keeps promoting Kado to his own clients. He goes as far as recommending Kado for Serap’s daughter (Nazli Bulum) when she talks about her daughter suffering from insecurities. Saygin suggests that Kado could court/compliment the young girl and boost her ego, which is absurd, because if a guy like Kado came on to a girl at a bar, she would ideally be freaked out, creeped out, or feel a host of other things that do not resemble feeling flattered.
Çagatay Ulusoy and Ebru Sahin look good together, the onscreen sparks are there, however, the pair is stuck in the wrong movie. Their chemistry doesn’t save ‘A True Gentleman’, which never gets its thematic tone right and suddenly throws in a tragic twist before a happier ending rolls in. If you want to watch a romance about a male sex worker, the Bollywood Netflix series “Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper” is far more entertaining, it’s raunchy, funny, with its own fair share of drama and tragedy.
‘A True Gentleman’ is also available on Netflix.
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