House of Gucci | Review
To all of the Little Monsters eager for another Oscar-worthy film and performance from Mother Monster herself, I’m sorry to tell you that House of Gucci is not the film we’ve been waiting for. While not god-awful, a lot of... decisions were certainly made, many of which do not work well together, resulting in a subpar picture with some memorable aspects, though not necessarily in a good way.
Adapted from Sara Gay Forden’s book “The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed” by screenwriters Becky Johnston (The Prince of Tides) and Roberto Bentivegna (The Last Man in Brooklyn), House of Gucci tells the true story of the collapse of the Gucci Family’s hold over the company that bears their name. Our audience surrogate into this over-the-top family is Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), a woman working for her family’s humble trucking business. Just Dancing the night away at a party, she ends up meeting Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), a scion of the Gucci Family. When Patrizia and Maurizio fall in love and get married, his disapproving father Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) cuts him off completely. There are hints, from the moment Maurizio introduces his last name, that Patrizia is an opportunist who’s only in it for the money. But at other times, it appears she does love him. Maybe it’s a bit of both? Whatever the case may be, it’s a Bad Romance, and we’re in for a seductive, manipulative, and dangerous Love Game.
Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani
In contrast to Rodolfo, Maurizio’s uncle Aldo (Al Pacino, hamming it up) approves of his new niece, encouraging the couple to visit New York and help reinvigorate the dying brand, which is a slap in the face of Aldo’s actual son, Paolo (an unrecognizable Jared Leto, in heavy makeup and prosthetics), an aspiring designer whose mediocrity and insecurity is an embarrassment for the family. Rodolfo’s death ignites a sort of Game of Thrones within the family, with Patrizia, not satisfied in her working-class lifestyle (she was Born This Way), encouraging her husband to play a larger role in the company. They’re on the Edge of Glory! But Maurizio just wants to be the rare “good” lawyer and have nothing to do with the family business. This leads to a series of fights between the family members, with plenty of personal betrayals and backstabbing (Judas, baby) and, like the title of the book suggests, even murder. You bet someone’s going to call 911.
If only the movie were as entertaining as the book’s juicy subtitle or the excellent trailers. Instead of a fun, glamorous, campy, and exciting dramedy, House of Gucci is a self-serious slog. The film meanders too often, making you feel its nearly three-hour running time. I’m really appalled at how rushed the ending was. We came here for the murder, and as soon as it happens the film quickly wraps up in what feels like five minutes.
Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino)
The casting of all Oscar-winning and/or -nominated actors in its lead roles is pure Oscar bait (Salma Hayek is once again underutilized, this time as a fortune teller-turned-accomplice to Patrizia). The Italian accents from many of its actors, most of whom are not Italian, have varying levels of success. Gaga, who has Italian ancestry, sounds more Russian. And everyone feels like they’re in an entirely different movie! Driver and Irons play their roles seriously, while Gaga and Leto are over-the-top (Leto especially feels like a caricature), and Pacino is somewhere in between. This isn’t to say their acting is bad, but it doesn’t feel cohesive, and they’d be individually remarkable if their characters were in different movies. It doesn’t help that we never really understand the characters beyond their archetypes. Other than Leto’s Paolo, we don’t come to understand why characters behave the way they are, or what motivates them.
There are a Million Reasons why the film doesn’t work but most of all I think it comes down to director Ridley Scott (whose other film, The Last Duel, just came out last month), whom I honestly don’t think was right director for this project (at one point, Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai was attached to direct). While competently directed, his pompous style doesn’t fit the type of story the film is trying to tell. It should be more sensational, outlandish, and fun. I can easily see House of Gucci as a limited series from someone like Ryan Murphy, whose prolific works include Glee, American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and Feud.
