A One Mann’s Movies review of “House of Gucci” (2021).
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
As I’m on holiday at the moment in Portugal, this was seen as “Casa de Gucci”. But the soundtrack was English with Portuguese subtitles. At least, I *think* it was English!
Plot Summary:
Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) is a secretary working for her father’s haulage business when she gets her hooks into Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), heir to 50% of the Gucci family fortune. But the ambitious Ms Reggiani is never going to be happy with just 50%.
What follows is a sprawling drama, based on real-life events, told over 25 years of wealth, power, commerce and murder.
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons.
Directed by: Ridley Scott.
Written by: Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna. Based on the book by Sara Gay Forden.
“House of Gucci” Review:
Positives:
- Other than the bare outlines, it’s a story I knew nothing about, so it made for interesting viewing. And who doesn’t want to see some escapist high-fashion, flashy cars and Italian high-living on the big screen?
- Adam Driver delivers another stonking performance. He delivers the best of the accents on show and is a delight to watch whenever he’s on screen. His performance is deliciously subtle and under-played. A model for acting lessons.
- Al Pacino, in full-on Pacino mode, is also great as Maurizio’s uncle: owner of the other half of the empire.
Negatives:
- The accents! Where do I begin? I felt a desperate need mid-film to order a Cornetto and go compare my car insurance online. While Driver and Pacino tend to rein it in, most of the rest of the cast assume accents approaching a bad parody of Italians. Jared Leto and Gaga are particularly guilty.
- I appreciate that the part of the “idiot” Paolo Gucci was meant to be comedic, but Jared Leto seems to almost be in a different film entirely. There’s ‘over-the-top’ and ‘waaaaay over-the-top’.
- I’ve seen some other reviews praising Lady Gaga… saying that it proves her performance in “A Star is Born” (a film I really didn’t enjoy) wasn’t just a “flash in the pan”. Personally, I didn’t feel it. I appreciate that the character of Patrizia is a larger-than-life one. But, although she did have some impressive scenes, for most of her performance I felt like she was obviously acting, and sometimes over-acting. The accent didn’t help.
- The film has a banging set of tunes, no argument. But for a sprawling drama told over a few decades (the film is nearly 160 minutes long!), music should be used to anchor the movie as to which year you are currently in. Donna Summer “I Feel Love”: so it must be 1977. But the movie doesn’t consistently follow that rule. It’s the early 70’s, but suddenly George Michael’s “Faith” blares out. #Unsettling.
- This may be my lack of concentration, but there seems to be an assertion in the film (presumably completely false) that Aldo Gucci was supporting/producing knockoff Gucci products for the mass-market: a “lucrative product line” that was later canned by Maurizio. I was personally confused by this bit of the story.
Summary Thoughts on “House of Gucci”
This was not the <2* bust that I thought it might be from early word I saw from other reviews. The fact that it turns out to be a 158-minute film surprised me, since it felt long… but not that long. So that’s a good thing. And it has its moments for sure. But this is not a movie that I will be in a hurry to revisit, since the accents and some of the performances (Jared Leto – take one step forwards) are not ones that I thought worthy of the potential that the movie had.
For me, Mr Scott, I’ll take “The Last Duel” any day.
Trailer for “House of Gucci”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGNnpVKxV6s .