House of Gucci
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: Becky Johnston, Roberto Bentivegna, Sara Gay Forden (book author)
Starring: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Jack Huston, Salma Hayek
Reason for watching: award season release
Number of times I’ve watched it: first time viewing
***
Sometimes the crash and burn of a movie are just so good that you cannot help but enjoy it. House of Gucci is the kind of movie that delivers an amazing disaster. The story itself may be a tragedy, but this movie plays it in such a way that you cannot help but enjoy it. The details and the eccentricities of the characters and the actors portraying them make for a wonderful time.
The House of Gucci follows the titular fashion-based family of several decades; in particular, it follows the marriage of Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) and Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver). There are lots of ups and downs in their marriage that lead to power plays amongst the family members. The other main players are Maurizio’s father Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons), Maurizio’s uncle Aldo (Al Pacino), and Maurizio’s cousin Paolo (Jared Leto). The manipulation and backstabbing between the family lead to jail time, poverty, affairs, and eventually murder.
First of all, almost every actor here is going as BIG as they can. There is no holding back amonst the cast at all. Gaga, Pacino, and Leto seem to be in some kind of contest to see who can ham it up the most. Gaga has more than a decade worth of time to work her character and the manic mood swing she goes through. One scene is doing her utmost to allure Maurizio, the next she plotting how to throw her husband’s family out of positions of influence, and then she is trying to kill a family member. It is an odd tour de force for her, but she deserves credit as an actor.
On a similar note, Pacino is up to his usual antics as an actor. He may be a little more restrained than in a movie like Heat, but he is not here to slow things down. Every word he says is filled with an old money type of swagger, akin with some kind of creepy, rich uncle you only see at Thanksgiving. To be honest, I do not think Pacino has been able to act seriously and subtly since the 1990s. Completing our holy trinity of over actors, Leto seems to be doing a Luigi impression from Super Mario. Honestly, he is overacting so bad that the local community theater director from Leto’s hometown rolled over in her grave and told him to tone it down. It is something to behold.
The styling of the costumes and the set really shows off the skills of the old-time designers. The outfits feel so much of a specific era without appearing dated. All of the characters look terrific and pull off the looks wonderfully. The designs and locations of the shots are terrific too. It has a fun feeling to it.
Sadly that is really where I stop appreciating the movie. The aesthetics of the movie themselves are awesome, but it stops short of really containing some original meaning or theme. Sure you could point to how power corrupts someone. But that has been a hundred times over in a hundred better ways. The story of becoming power-mad will be told again and again until the end of time. Hopefully, we can find more subtle ways to tell it going forward.
I do not pin any of this on Ridley Scott, the director. He has had a remarkable year with both this and The Last Duel. He made the news recently for comments about how millennials are killing the movie industry. I do not think his assessment is correct, but I would agree with him that the theater industry is dying. We are really losing our ability to enjoy great movies in large crowds. Now I would attribute a lot of that to the pandemic we are still living in, but we have lost a greater appreciation for non-franchise movies. We are not allowing for original and wholly independent stories to shine and have success. If we as a movie-going audience can put our dollars behind more original movies, I think we could really diversify the kind of great movies we get.
7/10
Until I see another one.