“House of Gucci” is an entertaining take of the Gucci family with some phenomenal acting performances and some not so phenomenal, but still offering an interesting story overall.
Rating 3/5
Directed by Ridley Scott, “House of Gucci” is inspired by the shocking true story of the family behind the Italian fashion empire.
When Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel the family legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge and ultimately…murder.
By now I’m sure we’ve all seen Lady Gaga on the relentless press tour for this movie, including all her zany comments about how she stayed in character during the entire filming process and other wacky statements.
And for what it is worth, all the studying and method acting approaches she took pays off.
Unlike “A Star Is Born” where Gaga could pull from personal experience for Ally, here she had to take a different approach and came out as one of the best parts of “House of Gucci”.
While watching the film you only see Patrizia and Gaga’s portrayal is nothing short of Oscar-worthy. It is the same for Adam Driver.
The majority of the film rests on their shoulders and they gave Maurizio and Patrizia hills and valleys throughout the movie.
Al Pacino once again pulled out a performance that most actors could only dream of.
As a viewer, you feel for Aldo Gucci as he goes from reintegrating his nephew into the family to being pushed out of the family business due to the moves of Maurizio and Patrizia.
The film is directed well and looks beautiful, but I wasn't expecting anything less than stellar from the “Alien” filmmaker.
You truly feel transported to each era from the 70s to the late 90s as we follow the destruction of the Gucci dynasty.
Since this movie is inspired by true events it does take some liberties and Scott adds a dash of camp in the movie that shows not only in the acting but in the way events transpire.
The biggest problem with “House of Gucci” is Jared Leto.
For some strange reason, he decided to do a caricature of Paolo Gucci, giving him a weird high-pitched voice along with a very stereotypical parody of an Italian accent.
And of course, almost everyone in this film is putting on an Italian accent but it still sounds like it is based on what real Italian people would sound like.
Leto sounds like he escaped from the “Super Mario” movie and tonally doesn’t fit with the rest of the cast at all.
This is especially evident in the scenes with Pacino, who is giving this grounded performance that is sure to get him an Academy Award nomination, while Leto is playing Paolo like he’s in a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” over-acting challenge.
“House of Gucci” is still entertaining to watch and looks into the dark history of the famed Italian fashion house that we know now.
Gaga, Driver and Pacino give Oscar-worthy performances while Leto fell short. If you want to enjoy a slightly campy take on the Gucci family then this is worth the watch.
“House of Gucci” is showing at cinemas nationwide.
This article originally appeared on IOL.
