Rating: 8.1
Overall I really enjoyed House of Gucci. Its not the scandalous, chic masterpiece we all wanted it to be, which isn’t great considering how much talent was involved, but its not bad at all. I liked it! It’s not Ridley Scott’s best work either, even his other movie from this year “The Last Duel” is far superior, and this one feels like it could have benefitted from someone like Martin Scorsese directing. It felt like a mix of “The Godfather” and “Succession” while wanting to be the new “Wolf of Wall Street”, but unfortunately it can’t live up to any of those. Now, the problem isn’t with the first two acts, those were fantastic and I was loving the movie for the first 2 hours. Unfortunately at about the 2 hour mark it just loses steam, slows down and loses focus of what it is. It just becomes a tonal mess, and even forgets about its main character. Heck, the whole murder plot feels like it is ignored and just brought up at the end just because. All the planning happens off screen, which is just ridiculous when that is literally what the movie was building up to. If it wasn’t for that darn third act I would be raving about this movie, as it tells such an interesting and pretty much crazy true story, with some awesome production value and performances.
The performances alone are enough reason to see the movie, though! I cannot believe how good all the actors were in this, I was blown away. Lady Gaga finally earned my respect as a serious actor, she is unbelievable as Patrizia, and fully becomes the character from her walk to her attitude and even voice. She truly deserves the academy award this time! Adam Driver is also stunningly good, he’s just a powerhouse of an actor and delivers such an intricate and nuanced performance. Al Pacino was fantastic as well, and honestly this might be one of my favourite performances of his. But it was Jared Leto that truly surprised me, he is unrecognizable as Paolo (credit to makeup, hair and costuming teams), and truly doesn’t even seem like himself in the character, it’s something so new for him. He is also incredibly funny in the role, he had so many comedic moments that stole the show! There is one problem with the acting however; all the actors are perfect on their own, but they all feel like they have different ideas of what the movie is, they don’t seem like their performances all mesh with each other. But this could also be the script… because these are some talented actors giving some of their best work!
The script unfortunately is just amateurish. It’s slightly too slow, and easily half an hour too long. Its main issue is that it’s imbalanced and incoherent. It isn’t sure what it wants to be; some scenes feel like they are from a serious drama and some from a goofily heightened melodrama. Both aspects were good, and done moderately well, but they did not make a for solid final product. There doesn’t seem to be much focus. It also can be campy at times and some of the dialogue is pretty poor. The worst part is it isn’t supposed to be a comedy, but some of the lighthearted/funny moments were the best parts of the movie, which makes me wonder why they didn’t go with a full “Wolf of Wall Street” tone for it. And like I said, it also just completely loses itself and its characters in the third act. It also rushes through significant moments and jumps through the Gucci history, while it is slow and too long it also doesn’t feel like it spends enough time with key moments.
This also didn’t help Ridley Scott with his direction. He really does seem to be held back by the script, and I’m surprised he couldn’t manage to elevate the material, just left it to his actors. I really feel Scorsese would have been better for this movie, he really could have guided the tonally inconsistent script to success. The production value is wonderful at least, the film is a feast for the eyes, whether it be the cinematography, costuming or set design. It fits Gucci so well, its very chic and exudes luxury. I also loved the needle drops in the soundtrack too, all the songs were perfect and fit well!
Overall despite its issues I still enjoyed and really liked the film! The story of the fall of the House of Gucci is insanely intriguing and really interesting to see unfold. The script may be flawed but the stunning performances really make it all worth it!
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IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 62%
RT Audience Score: 84%
Metacritic Score: 59
CinemaScore: B+
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MGM
Directed by Ridley Scott
Screenplay by Becky Johnston & Roberto Bentivegna
Story by Becky Johnston
Based on the book by Sara Gay Forden
Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, Jack Huston, Camille Cottin
Runtime: 2hr 38min
Rating: 14A
Crime, Drama
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When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel their legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately...murder.
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Fun Fact: First collaboration between Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons. However, they share only one scene.
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