A few weeks back, talking about Last Night in Soho, I discussed how some movie can never live up to their trailer. They promise too much of a world of possibility for a narrative film to ever live up to. House of Gucci is nearly one of those movies. The difference is that it’s not even the trailer. It’s the existence of the movie. The production stills, the posters, the casting, the title: it all promises something remarkable. House of Gucci was legendary with the first picture of Lady Gaga and Adam Driver on the snowy mountain. I’m not sure any movie could’ve lived up to the public imagination for it. The same people couldn’t even decide if they were excited for prestige or trash. Either way, it would be memorable.
The story of the Gucci family does sound irresistible. Brothers Aldo (Al Pacino) and Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) own the company 50/50. Aldo’s son, Paolo (Jared Leto) is a fool. Rodolfo’s son, Maurizio (Adam Driver), is uninterested in the family business until he meets and marries Patrizia (Lady Gaga). Patrizia motivates Maurizio to scheme for control of the business leading to betrayal and eventually murder. All the while, everyone (except Paolo) is dressed in the height of 80s fashion. On paper, I’d happily sign up for a 2.5+ hour fashion epic. The Godfather on a Runway.
In actuality, House of Gucci is much duller than the pieces that make it up. Director Ridley Scott is incapable of making campy trash. He wants to make this something more serious yet every element of it is rejecting that. The movie is pitched as a Lady Gaga showcase. She is to this what Cookie is to Empire. It certainly starts out that way, but she’s pretty powerless for the last hour of the movie. Her marriage with Maurizio falls apart and it’s never that clear why. She’s sidelined just as her story really gets crazy. Maurizio’s arc is supposed to be that of a cutthroat monster, but instead his character is too impenetrable to understand. He leaves Patrizia for being a monster right as he’s being a monster? And it’s never that clear when the switch in his brain switched from being ambivalent about the family business to deeply desiring full control of it. I think the big issue here is that they didn’t decide if this was Lady Gaga’s movie or not. They make her first among equals which throws the balance off. Whenever the movie got boring, I’d sit there wondering why I wasn’t just following Patrizia right then or why Patrizia wasn’t taking over a scene more.
The performances (and the costuming, of course) are the highlight of the movie. They are all very big. I’m not great with accents, so I won’t comment on how accurate they are. What I will say is that all the accents are big. After surprising everyone with her A Star is Born performance, Lady Gaga gives the kind of performance in this that people expected her to break into movies with. This is the performance of a woman who showed up to a red carpet in a meat suit. She is so much fun to watch. Adam Driver is striking visually with his glasses and simple style but he is a pretty static character. It’s the worst performance only because it’s the worst character. Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, and especially Jared Leto are a lot fun to watch. All three have a history of making meals out of characters and this movie encourages that. In dull corporate takeover scenes, their performance choices keep things interesting.
Of the dueling Ridley Scott movies this Fall, I very much prefer the largely ignored The Last Duel. House of Gucci is just entertaining enough to be worth watching, but it is frustrating that it refuses to be the movie the performers are trying to make it into. It’s weird to watch a Ridley Scott movie and think, was Ryan Murphy too busy to offer consulting?
Verdict: Weakly Don’t Recommend
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