House of Gucci
Dustin Chase
The highly anticipated “House of Gucci” by Ridley Scott isn’t quite the film everyone hoped or anticipated. It’s interesting how ‘Gucci’ was supposed to be the sure fire Oscar player, some even suggesting Lady Gaga back as a nominee sight-unseen. Now it looks like the film will be lucky to even score a makeup or costume nomination.
The 83-year-old director’s second film this year following “The Last Duel” is tonally all over the place, despite a cast to literally die for. Scott can’t decide if he is making a high end mob film, a trashy Italian soap opera or some sort of Scorsese inspired “American Crime Story”.
In this case Scott isn’t the only one to blame for “House of Gucci’s” disappointment, both screenwriters have little to no experience with this kind of film or scale. The plot is a simple play by play of events, the rise and fall of the Gucci family, starting with Patrizia Reggiani (Gaga) setting her sights on Maurizio Gucci ( Adam Driver). What the trailer advertised as a wild ride is more like 30 minutes of actual story stretched wider than 90’s hot pants to nearly three hours.
Gaga and co-star Jared Leto as the black-sheep Paolo Gucci, often feel like they are working with different scripts than the rest of the cast
Much of the dialogue and interaction between the Gucci icons isn’t interesting. Gaga and co-star Jared Leto as the black-sheep Paolo Gucci, often feel like they are working with different scripts than the rest of the cast that includes Al Pacino, who is quite good, Salma Hayek, and Jeremy Irons.
If Scott and team had aimed to make a campy mobster flick using the Gucci story as a facade, fine, run with that concept. However, on the wild road to camp, ‘Gucci’ takes a hard left turn into parody. There are a few stunning locations used in Italy, but the art direction and the cinematography fail to impress, especially compared to other films baring Scott’s name, including the now superior “Last Duel”.
Final Thought
More of a knock-off than a knock-out.