Starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, House of Gucci follows Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) and her relationship with Maurizio Gucci (Driver). This film is based on a true story involving Patrizia and her induction into the Empire of Gucci
I’m a Gucci
House of Gucci is all about the Gucci family and how this outsider came in and brought them down. That’s at least what I got from it. It is happenstance that Patrizia and Maurizio meet but once she hears that surname she tries desperately to dig her claws in. She actually manufactures a meet-cute to see him again and because Maurizio is quite a sheepish individual she pushes herself into his life easily. From there they fall in love and the film moves from extravagant set-piece to the next with little else to it.
So House of Gucci is all about the destruction of this family by this woman and it is a long journey to get there. The film is 157 minutes long and director Ridley Scott needed to get back into the editing suite and cut this fabric because it is an unwieldy mess. The film focuses on every minute detail of each family member of the Gucci clan. From patriarch Rodolfo Gucci’s (Jeremy Irons) disapproval of Patrizia’s humble upbringing to Aldo Gucci’s (Al Pacino) profit over art mentality, there is nothing left untold in this story.
One of the more eccentric elements of the film is Paolo Gucci played unsurprisingly by Jared Leto. I say unsurprisingly because he is giving an incredibly cartoonish performance. He makes noises that would make Mario blush whenever he is in trouble. Couple this with the other performances and there is no scenery left as everyone has taken notable chomps out of it save for Driver’s Maurizio.
House of Gucci – built on a foundation of sand
Now House of Gucci isn’t a complete mess. There are moments where the cinematography and the actors do work well together to tell a visually engaging story. Visiting the lavish locales throughout the course of the film and watching these actors is interesting, at times. Lady Gaga is clearly having a ball, playing the infamous “Black Widow” with gusto and Driver is an excellent counterpoint. He wants the simpler life but her greed brings him further and further into a life he never truly wanted.
If House of Gucci had been a special television event I think it would be far more impressive. You could have split the story into 3 parts and it would have been far more desirable in my opinion. As it is right now, it is self-indulgent, bloated and over the top. Which I suppose would have suited this family in the end.
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