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There were quite a number of reasons for wanting to see 'House of Gucci'. The advertising did intrigue and did suggest a film that would be over the top but entertaining in its own way. Ridley Scott's filmography is hit and miss, brilliant at his best like with 'Alien' and 'Blade Runner' though some of his films, such as 'GI Jane' and 'Robin Hood' ('Legend' is underrated in my view), are not too great. The main draw though was the cast, with Lady Gaga (an immensely gifted performer and inspirational person) being a big selling point for many.

For me though, bigger selling points were seeing two of my favourite actors Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons again (and reunited after 'A Merchant in Venice'). Jared Leto has always been very take and leave. 'House of Gucci' turned out to be one of those difficult to rate and review sort of films for me, it is going to be one of those films that some are going to love and others are going to hate (with some in between). It is a hugely flawed film, but there was also a lot to enjoy at the same time. As far as Scott's films go, it's a middling effort. Neither one of his best or worst.

'House of Gucci' has a lot that is good in my view. Have very little to complain about when it comes to how it looks, apart from some editing being in need of a tightening in the final act. The Italian scenery and the costumes are truly stunning though and the camerawork is similarly sumptuous. Scott's direction is uneven dramatically but is very impressive on a technical level, especially in his use of multiple cameras (which must make it easy for actors to know where to look). The soundtrack is also wonderful and beautifully operatic in scope, though not always well placed, but from a standalone point of view there are no complaints here.

Despite the very all over the place accents, with a mix of exaggerated (Leto, to almost cartoonish effect in his case) or barely there (Irons, am a huge fan of Irons but will never deny about accents not being a forte of his), most of the acting is fine. Lady Gaga kills it as Patrizia, who is a very interesting and well fleshed out character here, bringing charm, effortless charisma and menace to her. It has been said that her accent isn't great, as far as the cast goes it's actually the most convincing one along with Salma Hayek's. Adam Driver is a good deal more understated, one of the few in the cast to play it very straight, but he is also compelling and his character growth/decent is believable. They have great chemistry together.

The supporting cast on the whole support them well, Pacino coming off best having a whale of a time as Aldo. Irons brings vulnerability and authority to patriarch Rodolfo and Salma Hayek gives some of her best acting in years. Really liked the chemistry on the whole, Lady Gaga and Driver are great together as are Lady Gaga and Hayek, while that between Irons and Pacino is a joy. 'House of Gucci' does have a few great individual scenes, and one of the best is the magnificent encounter between Irons and Pacino. Personally thought the first half was fine and that it set up the intrigue and characters extremely well. As well as a few funny moments, Rodolfo's verbal brutalising of Paolo was gold and sums up the viewer's opinion of him and his work perfectly.

On the other hand, 'House of Gucci' has a number of shortcomings. One performance didn't work for me and that was Leto. Unrecognisable in much talked about(the talk of social media when advertising was first revealed) makeup that deserves its own film, he overplays his role, especially when the comic relief becomes more dominant, and belongs in a completely different film. Yes the film is very over the top in tone, but Leto's performance veered on excess and too much of a Super Mario Brothers caricature. There are pacing issues, the rather underdeveloped family business stuff drags, sometimes to the point of stalling, due to the lack of tension and gravitas that was not there enough. And other parts come over as very choppy and incomplete feeling, like the final act. The second half needed a tightening up, which would have made the film less overlong (and it is a film that could have been 25 minutes shorter easily).

Also found the ending very rushed and anti-climactic, handled with too much of an indifferent shrug. After spending so long on the family stuff (and not developing that enough) and the increasingly uneasy spurts of comedy, the event that caused such a sensation is just too throwaway in treatment. Tonally, 'House of Gucci' is messy, the comedy going for the campy approach that goes too far into pantomime in the second half and some of the serious moments being too melodramatic. Tonal shifts can be uneasily abrupt.

The script has some funny and intriguing moments, but is on the whole too overwritten in tone (Leto's comedy increasingly gets too much), bland emotionally (the descent into revenge is not examined enough) and also too much of a trying to include as many iconic lines as possible. Some of the line delivery has to be heard to be believed, can imagine right now the amount of reaction gifs online in regard to some of the more comedic lines and Leto's body language.

Concluding, hugely flawed but also quite fun when taking it for what it is. 5.5/10 (was struggling which score of 5 or 6 to give it but decided to go in between and round it up)

House of Gucci is a new crime drama directed by Ridley Scott, the director of Gladiator and Alien.

The film is inspired by true events surrounding the family behind the Italian fashion house Gucci. When Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) begins a relationship with the outsider Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), he is disinherited by his father Rodolfo Gucci (Jeremy Irons). He suspects that Patrizia is behind Maurizio's family money. That's how the two have to make it without the support of the Gucci family. Years later, the two are married and have a child together. Maurizio's uncle Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino) thus contacts him again and brings him back into the family business. The Gucci fashion house is once again going under multiple names, leading to creative differences, exposing betrayal, revenge and even murder cases.

There have been many changes in the making of this film. Martin Scorsese, for example, could have directed the film at first, but Ridley Scott was eventually given a directing position. Together with the casting directors, he also had many ideas for the casting of the roles before they finally came to the chosen actors and actresses.

After the many changes in casting and direction, they probably should have looked back at the writing crew of the film, because the final script was written by more novice writers, which can sometimes be seen in the film. The story can sometimes seem a bit messy and so long-winded, because the story makes many jumps in time. Some relationships come across as rushed, which can cause some loss of credibility.

What comes out best in the film about a well-known fashion brand is therefore the costumes and make-up of the characters. Janty Yates can expect film award nominations for this. Still, the film has received complaints from actual members of the Gucci family that the relatives were better dressed in real life compared to the actors in the film. They also credibly convey the places where the story takes place.

Al Pacino comes out the best of the film cast and knows how to provide the best and most believable accent compared to the entire cast. Lady Gaga and Adam Driver have good chemistry together in the film, but their relationship sometimes comes across as weak. Patrizia is clearly showing signs that she is more behind the Gucci family's money than she really loves Maurizio. Their accents can also come across as a bit unusual. Lady Gaga has more of an Eastern European accent than real Italian. Her characters seem to come more from Russia in some scenes. Of the entire cast, Salma Hayek is the only one who has received help with speaking in the correct accent. This is probably because she is married to the man who now owns the Gucci brand. If they had helped the entire cast a little more with their accents in the film, they would have come across a bit more like people from the same country. Who even seems to play in a completely different film is Jared Leto, because in the film he wears a fattening costume and also has a strange shaved hair style. In the film, he comes across as too exaggerated compared to the rest and speaks excessively in a high-pitched voice. He sometimes sounds just like the video game character Mario.

House of Gucci is probably the most stylish film of 2021, it looked awesome, this was beautifully made, the quality of production and direction is phenomenal. It isn't just style over substance though, it's well made, generally well acted, it tells a fascinating and twisted story.

The main issue about this film for me, was the pacing, it was somewhat uneven, at times it felt frustratingly slow, fortunately it did pick up at its conclusion. The running time was overlong, what is it with films in 2021? Why the need for everything to be almost three hours? Is there some deal for cost per minute at cinemas? Ninety minute films work too.

If you ever think your family has problems, just watch this, and you'll see what family problems really are. Scandal, betrayal and murder, it's a rags to riches story with a twist.

The acting, for the most part I thought it was great, Jeremy Irons was the standout for me, as he so often is, but Lady Gaga was awesome as Patrizia, she did a great job. Adam Driver on the other hand, I'm not sure why, but I felt as though he was a little uninterested, perhaps a little bored?

6/10.

House of Gucci is a movie full of famous actors. Lady Gaga is a convincing Patrizia Reggiani, an Italian girl from the Province of Modena who wanted to achieve more in life. Hunting for a potential rich man she goes to parties and at one of these she meets Maurizio Gucci (portrayed by Adam Driver).

The story of Patrizia and Maurizio Gucci, their rise and fall, the dynamics of manipulation, betrayal at the cost of trust around this family and its business is well set, though evolves a bit slow. The best performance in the movie by far though was by Jared Leto as Paolo Gucci, Maurizo's cousin.

Overall, it is an entertaining movie portraying a story about a family, about a brand and a tragedy. Recommended to everyone who wants to look behind the curtain of the myth behind a world-known brand and its drama.

I was a little bit afraid of diving into this movie as it has an extensive running time of 154 minutes, which is a lot for a biographical drama, but I was pleasantly surprised by how immensely intriguing the story was.

The best part of the movie for me was its visual appeal. "House of Gucci" has something breathtaking in practically every frame and just for that it deserves a watch.