House of Gucci rollicks through the story of the Gucci family/brand from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) meets Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) at a party and pursues him based upon his last name. Maurizio is one of the heirs to the fashion house Gucci and clearly has money. He quickly falls in love with the manipulative Patrizia, and his father, Rodolfo Gucci (Jeremy Irons), disowns him after he chooses to propose/marry her. Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino), Maurizio’s uncle, takes him under his wing to teach him the ropes of the business, along with Patrizia. Maurizio, seemingly guided by Patrizia, gradually removes Aldo and his son Paolo Gucci (Jared Leto). During this time, the marriage between Patrizia and Maurizio disintegrates, and she enlists the help of her creepy witch best friend, Pina Auriemma (Salma Hayek), to eventually assassinate Maurizio.
On the surface, the story does sound interesting, right? Yeah, it wasn’t enjoyable. After the agonizing two hours and thirty-six minutes, you were left wondering what the point of the film was. There was no tension and no payoff for sitting there forever. The costume design was great, but that’s about it.
Before watching the film, I knew very little about the events. I resisted reading the family and Tom Ford’s (creative director of Gucci 1994-2004) responses to the movie until I saw it. I could see why the family and Ford were highly critical of the film. It was clear that the family was not involved in the project.
A few days after seeing the film, I watched the new Dateline episode to get the real story. The two-hour episode was more interesting than the film itself. Other events would have been much more compelling than the bent narrative of Patrizia. Patrizia was a gold digger, plain and simple. She was not likeable, and I felt like she deserved everything that happened to her.
The acting was problematic and the worst thing about the film. All the characters were awkward caricatures and not fun to watch. Was that the intention? Or was it meant to be serious? The most egregious acting in the film was by none other than Leto. I really hate Leto’s acting and think he’s a hack. I physically cringed every time he was on screen. Leto needs to go back to music and never act again. Lady Gaga has been praised for her acting in this film, I clearly didn’t watch the same movie as those people. Initially, I thought Driver did a good job, but after watching that documentary, my feelings have changed. The real-life Maurizio was more cunning, more intelligent, and charismatic. Driver’s Maurizio seemed dumb and was devoid of anything resembling a personality. Pacino and Jack Huston were the least offensive performances in my eyes.
This film had no point. It wasn’t compelling or exciting by any stretch of the imagination. Hopefully, another movie or miniseries will eventually be made to do the story justice. This is the second Ridley Scott fail I’ve sat through this year. He needs to chill for a bit before directing anything else.
7.0
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I’m a Data Analyst, from the land of Matthew McConaughey. I’m an avid movie-goer and love seeing films in theaters. My most recent favorite films are Good Time, Only Lovers Left Alive, TENET, and England is Mine. When I’m not at the movies, I’m either reading or watching obscene amount of true crime and historical documentaries.
