House of Gucci

Review : 

While the story is a bit more complicated than the summary above may make it out to be, House of Gucci is still an incredibly accessible movie. Any audience member who has spent more than 5 minutes in a major city has seen a Gucci item, whether it was real or not. The name is synonymous with wealth and excess, which is often on display on various social media platforms in today’s day and age. The continued presence of Gucci in the fashion world has established it as a household name, and while the struggles, deceit, and murder that the family is plagued with may have been relatively unknown to many, there is still enough brand recognition to sell tickets. Ridley Scott has been on fire the past few years, from his work on The Martian, Raised by Wolves, The Last Duel, and now House of Gucci. The man just will not slow down, which is both good and bad given his track record. House of Gucci is his second blockbuster release of 2021 and most likely his best. After what many call a disappointment in The Last Duel, Scott fires back with another true story adaptation featuring one of the world’s most famous fashion brands. House of Gucci is bold, treacherous, and full of backstabbing family relationships that are kept afloat by stellar performances by Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, and supported by Jared Leto, Al Pacino, and Jeremy Irons.

Working for her father’s shipping company, Patrizia Reggiani happens to cross paths with the one and only Maurizio Gucci at a party. Initially unaware of who she was speaking with, she becomes fascinated with the quiet law student who wants nothing to do with his family’s fashion empire. Through her persistence and seemingly pleasant demeanor, Patrizia wins the heart of Maurizio, and the two are soon married, despite Maurizio’s father’s insistence that Patrizia is nothing more than a gold digger. Regardless, Maurizio pursues his life with Patrizia and they live a modest lifestyle for him. While there are no Gucci’s at the wedding besides her husband, Patrizia’s new name buys her a certain level of fame and a small amount of fortune. Over the next few months Maurizio’s father, Rodolfo Gucci, falls ill and is pushed by his brother, Aldo Gucci, to reconnect with his son. Not long before his death, Rodolfo is delighted to learn that he is a grandfather and that his son is happy, although he is still wary of Patrizia. He begs Maurizio to return to Gucci and after some additional pressure from his uncle Aldo and Patrizia, Maurizio reluctantly agrees. While Maurizio is hesitant to leap into the family business, Patrizia has established herself as what she deems to be an essential member of the Gucci family. She pushes Maurizio to become the ruthless Gucci patriarch that she deems the company needs. As Patrizia maneuvers Maurizio, she discovers that she is no longer the gamemaster and has instead become a pawn of Maurizio. The two are soon at odds with each other as Patrizia works to get back into Maurizio’s good graces to reestablish herself amongst the fashion elite. However, Maurizio is now fully aware of what his wife has always been, but underestimates just how far she’s willing to go to get what she wants.

While the story is a bit more complicated than the summary above may make it out to be, House of Gucci is still an incredibly accessible movie. Any audience member who has spent more than 5 minutes in a major city has seen a Gucci item, whether it was real or not. The name is synonymous with wealth and excess, which is often on display on various social media platforms in today’s day and age. The continued presence of Gucci in the fashion world has established it as a household name, and while the struggles, deceit, and murder that the family is plagued with may have been relatively unknown to many, there is still enough brand recognition to sell tickets. Filling the roles of Patrizia and Maurizio are Lady Gaga and Adam Driver. Lady Gaga is sweet and endearing at first, but she sheds that facade to become the cold and calculating Patrizia Gucci that orders a hit on her “beloved” husband. Driver fulfills the same sort of role in Maurizio. He is shy, quiet, and smart for much of the first half of the movie. He is aware of what it means to be a Gucci but wants nothing to do with it because he’s seen what it does to people. But after he gets a taste of the power and fortune, he dives headlong into the deep end and eventually works his way out from under Patrizia’s thumb to become the latest and most ruthless Gucci yet. The two have some stellar chemistry in the first half of the movie and genuinely put on the air of being in love. They were passionate and inseparable and encouraging towards each other. However, it was not entirely genuine from Lady Gaga the entire way through the first half. The audience is able to pick up on her true motives as she interacts with the supporting cast. Carrying the mantle for the rest of the Gucci family is Al Pacino as Aldo, Jared Leto as Paulo (Aldo’s son, Maurizio’s cousin), and Jeremy Irons as Rodolfo. Pacino has a pretty standard pervy old man vibe for most of his scenes, and while his performance is standard Pacino, it feels like it was a lost cause to give more effort because Lady Gaga and Driver put on one of their best performances in comparison. Jared Leto disappears into the makeup of Paulo and is basically unrecognizable. His performance is wacky and garnered many laughs. It left many questioning where this version of Leto has been, the one with talent and skillful delivery. This Leto needs to replace the dead mouse mailing Joker wannabe that the world has been stuck with as of late. Lastly, Jeremy Irons is the one person who feels almost miscast. There is a level of self-made aristocracy and privilege that comes naturally to Irons in this role, but he just doesn’t quite capture the family vibe the same way the rest of the cast does. It doesn’t help that his English accent slips through on more than one occasion (While I am guilty of doing many a bad accent, I have to point it out because it was more noticeable than the rest of the cast).

Flexing his director’s muscles, Ridley Scott crafts a visually and audibly appealing movie to back up the top-tier performances. There are many different locations in this whirlwind of a story and the snow-capped mountains, luxury penthouses, and oceanside villas all looked spectacular. The whole ordeal is set in the early to mid-80s and the world reflects that. The large glasses, big hair, and boxy sports cars are all accurate to the time and help the movie feel right at home in the 80s renaissance of late. The backdrop of House of Gucci depicts wealth and style mostly unseen by the masses and creates a veil of mysticism that the audience is given the chance to peek behind during the 2 hours and 38 minutes run time. The soundtrack features the hits of yesteryear and helps reiterate that this crime of greed and murder didn’t happen all that long ago.

House of Gucci is entertaining and smartly written with stellar performances from the leads of Lady Gaga and Adam Driver. Ridley Scott is on a substantial role of quality content and does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon. With deception, greed, and lust to spare, House of Gucci does not disappoint and sheds light on the world’s most well-known fashion brand’s darkest secrets.

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