Rent House of Gucci on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book
Written by: Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna (screenplay by), Becky Johnston (story by), Sara Gay Forden (based on the book "The House of Gucci" by)
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Jack Huston, Salma Hayek
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel their legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately...murder.
Verdict
This tries to use a large production budget and numerous stars to cover for the lack of story. While this relays events and facts about the Gucci family, there isn't a story here. This doesn't give us anyone to root for or against. This movie just fills time, and reading the Wikipeda entry would be more productive. The movie liberally changes story facts as needed. That's the reason people focus on accents and prosthetics. That's the only thing worth discussing.
Skip it.
Review
Even the summary of this movie doesn't quite capture it. Maurizio is just as, if not more, responsible for the family strife. This movie never captures the right tone. Is this a movie where we root for or against Patrizia (Lady Gaga)? The movie doesn't know, and doesn't give us enough for either. We don't know if she marries Maurizio (Adam Driver) because she's an opportunist or not. It's ambiguous enough to make you wonder, though it seems that is the reason. Later, Maurizio is the bad guy, but how can we root for Patrizia when she joined the family to further who own interests? Motives are never clear, and most of the time it seems motives appear to further the plot.
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| Jared Leto plays Paolo Gucci |
This movie seems to be a sensationalist soap opera at times and a farce at others. The movie never captures either well. Jared Leto certainly seems to think this is a farce. He's one step away from being in a comedy. With the right mood, his scenes certainly could be that. In this he stands out as being in the wrong movie, but with the right tone, he could be the standout. If you don't look at the cast list, there's no way you would know who Leto plays.
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| Lady Gaga plays Patrizia Gucci |
The movie lacks a solid story. While it looks great, this fails to develop the characters. This opens with a courtship between Patrizia and Maurizio that doesn't really have a purpose. It should characterize the two so we know whether to like them or not. Is their stilted romance on purpose because she is an opportunist after their wealth? Maurizio's father (Jeremy Irons) seems to think so, but the movie never reveals Patrizia's motives. Which one of them is the main character? Do I root for one of them or their relationship? There's no foundation. The movie largely is about family strife and infighting. These two certainly are the reason for a lot of the fighting. Maurizio eventually becomes enamored with chasing wealth, but we're never given a reason why. I would guess it's a bit of mid-life crisis while now being rich enough to cover for his social awkwardness.
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| Lady Gaga, Al Pacino, Adam Driver play Patrizia, Aldo, Maurizio Gucci |
This movie is built around the stars and names involved instead of the story. This is a very standard approach to the subject, and most of this movie is bland. It's stars in expensive costumes attempting Italian accents. What's the root cause of this family's downfall? It isn't exactly Patrizia, though she did help push Maurizio to run this business. Maurizio eventually wants to spend the company's earnings on expensive stuff, seemingly for status. That could be an interesting angle for this movie, focusing on that and why. He turns out to be a bad business man, but the movie is a bit of a jumble with so many people sharing screen time. This movie is an actor vehicle, and not much more.
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