British director Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci '' starring Academy Award winner Lady Gaga and nominee Adam Driver is neither a hit nor flop.
With a budget of more than $75 million and a bloated two-hour-38-minute runtime – that’s with time already shaved off from last summer’s test-screening – and an all-star cast, House of Gucci should have been better.
Scott’s summer trailer, released by MGM Studios, advertised a cutthroat drama packed with backstabbing action dancing with fashion, power and money, with the label’s famous double-G logo slapped on top.
But, of course, even Hollywood is no stranger to a little false advertising.
Instead, viewers who may optimistically find themselves in theaters after its Nov. 24 release may get lost in the two-hour pre-show resembling a pseudo-Italian soap opera of family dysfunction.
Lady Gaga’s character, Patrizia Reggiani, is painted as calculating and clever as she marries Maurizio Gucci, a would-be lawyer. She pulls strings until the duo eventually climb to power but ultimately fall apart, leading to Patrizia and her self-proclaimed psychic gal-pal Pina Auriemma to plot Maurizio’s murder.
However, script writers Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna took their sweet time to get to the murder plot.
So much so that by the time murder was even considered, about two hours in, the very idea would be out of place if this weren’t based on a true story.
In a Nov.24 interview with Time Magazine , Bentivegna said, “I really wanted to feel heightened, and really bold and operatic.”
If he was going for the old cliche of tuxedos falling asleep at the opera, he was on the right track.
The story of Gucci-labeled scandal and crime is undoubtedly strong enough to hold its own blockbuster, but the first problem with House of Gucci is that it was trying to pack too much into one film.
There are really at least two films here: Patrizia’s scheme of entering the Gucci dynasty and rising to power with Maurizio and then their deathly descent into chaos and crime.
While the build up and fall can certainly coexist, Scott & Co. missed the mark.
According to a Nov. 27 Deadline article, House of Gucci raked in $1.3 million from 7 p.m. showtimes on Tuesday, falling behind Disney’s new animated movie Encanto, which brought in $1.5 million from 6 p.m showtimes on the same day.
The initial profits are not surprising considering the movie’s shortcomings, including Jared Leto’s outlandish and borderline offensive Italian accent.
His character Paolo, Maurizio’s cousin, is illustrated as the “idiot cousin” with only bad ideas stuffed up his self-designed sleeves.
Though the character is supposed to be a buffoon whose stake in the company could only bring damage, Leto’s worse-than-Wario style accent is so obnoxious and distasteful he was doing a disservice to the real-life Paolo Gucci.
Everytime Paolo came on screen, the film came dangerously close to crossing into a dark comedy instead of a crime drama.
Jeremy Irons’ barely-there accent as Maurizio’s father Rodolfo, and Adam Driver’s in-and-out impressions were enough of a reminder that Lady Gaga and Al Pacino were the only main cast members of Italian descent.
A few brief yellow-filtered scenes, unnecessary black and white fades and a confusing soundtrack lead to more disappointment.
However, the worst thing about this film is that it jumps straight from Maurizio’s murder to Patrizia’s sentencing two years later with absolutely no explanation of how she got caught.
Instead, a postscript appears on screen describing the sentencing while directing viewers away from family corruption to a brighter view of Gucci being the lucrative luxury brand it is today.
But the film is not a total disaster, not enough for a Razzie at least; those are reserved for honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements.
Gaga’s nine-month method accent and strong performance paid off and Pacino brought his usual reliable talent and engaging presence.
The stranger-than-fiction hard left turns are also worth a watch for those interested in one of several fatalities in high fashion, alongside that of Gianni Versace’s murder and Halston’s crippling descent.
Scott’s timing is perfect though.
House of Gucci, a murder story more or less, is also a decadent display of familial dysfunction wrapped in Gucci just in time for Thanksgiving.
In a Nov. 22 Variety article, Scott said, “What we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cell phones. The millennian do not ever want to be taught anything unless you are told it on the cell phone.”
Perhaps Scott will come out with an explanation for the disappointment of House of Gucci.
