🙋♂️ I put my hand up; I was one that didn’t see The Last Duel. I’m sorry Mr. Ridley Scott, I didn’t know it was you! The Last Duel looked awesome, but it came out at a time when Melbourne was trying to regain it’s footing after lockdown; it was only in cinemas for a short time, as Melbourne’s movie schedule was trying to catch up with new releases. That’s no excuse, and I won’t do you in on House of Gucci in the same way. Although, from what I’ve heard of House of Gucci, I could set my alarm to snooze… But a critic worth his soul must do his due diligence.
Back in 1978, in Milan, Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) was working for her father’s trucking company, and Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), the heir to the Gucci fashion house, was studying to become a lawyer. After a chance meeting at a party, Patrizia sees a vision for her future which starts with falling in love and marrying Maurizio. At first, Maurizio doesn’t want any part of his family’s company, believing it built upon lavish superiority, but Patrizia strikes up a friendship with Maurizio’s uncle, Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino), who insists that Patrizia and his nephew familiarise themselves with Gucci. Mr. Ridley Scott directs the tale, based on true events, involving family exploitation and outside corruption, that took the Gucci company in, and eventually out, of family hands.
The critics were right. This is a laborious movie, and anytime House of Gucci tries to add a little spark through a tasteless sex scene, or scenes with Maurizio’s larger-than-life cousin Paolo (Jared Leto), it only perpetuates how this movie is stuck in neutral. I know what I said, and I should love a gratuitous sex scene, and when even that is not working for me, then I have to question the entire prospective of the project. I understand that I’m not really enthused by high end fashion to begin with (or any fashion at all, really), but looking at this story on paper – decadence, family mutiny and murder – this should have been a fascinating movie. I had no idea that the nineties were such a treacherous time for fashion icons, thinking back on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story – I’m learning all the time. Fairly, this movie also includes a lot of tax evasion, wills, and company directives, but a movie like Mank,managed to be extremely interesting, turning a true event of what could have been somewhat dry, yet sensational, into something with exuberance and purpose, where this does not. And then, you always have to be very careful when it comes to movies that claim to be ‘based on true events’, often left wondering where the truth lies; but for large portions of House of Gucci, I’m left with no passion to decipher what is real, and what has been embellished, because I do not care. The only moments where I felt House of Gucci becomes really interesting, are the five minutes where Patrizia is concerned by the cheap replicas of Gucci being made to sell on the street, and the assassination of Maurizio at the very end. Suffice to say, I felt the runtime, at 158 minutes 😴
Lady Gaga does her absolute best to carry this movie, heavy on her back. She’s the only notable performance who gets lost in her character, and every time she is not on screen, the movie is worse for it. Adam Driver is very bland, and I know that’s what he is supposed to be, and he’s proven a worthwhile actor for this type of role before; but jeez, isn’t he more dynamic in movies like Marriage Story, when he’s given more to do? Driver’s is a thankless role, perhaps necessary, but he isn’t going to light up the show. And apart from Gaga, the Italian accents from the entire cast are sketchy; none more so than Jeremy Irons, who plays Maurizio’s father, Rodolfo – after a couple scenes, I think he gives up; a proud Englishman, through and through. I didn’t mind Al Pacino in the movie, but again, I feel like I’ve seen him work with better material, and be more prolific elsewhere in similar roles. Then there’s Jared Leto 😬 Especially in his early scenes, I feel like I now know what it looks like when an actor makes ALL the choices, instead of honing in on exactly what the character should be. If I give Leto the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he had a different understanding of what the tone of the film was going to be, and if everyone had acted as bombastically as he does, maybe House of Gucci would have more life. It’s on the director, ultimately, and in one scene between he and Lady Gaga, it comes across like they are fighting for creative control, where Gaga is measured and just awesome, and Leto is a cartoon. And if this version of Paolo Gucci did exist in real life, then I feel sorry for him, berated as an idiot at every turn, perhaps down to this movie that decides to play him up for comedic affect. I really hope Leto lives up to Morbius in a few weeks, because I have been thinking it’s a good casting choice, and Leto does have an Academy Award that he deserved; but with performances like this and Suicide Squad‘s Joker, it shakes your faith. I have shaky faith.
I wish that everything around Lady Gaga matched her exuberance. If not for her, and the dashing clothing designed by Gucci of course, this movie wouldn’t have much. But at the very root of this movie is a story worth knowing, about an ambitious wife who makes a man, and enables him to achieve well beyond his mentality would presume, at one of the most prestigious fashion houses in the world. And you’d think, the calloused chain of circumstances that follow would fortify this movie into something compelling… If the quick events that form the basis of I, Tonya can do it, then what’s this movie’s excuse? House of Gucci is tonally flat, and pretty forgettable.
2.5
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