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Blu-Ray : Highly Recommended
Ranking:
Release Date: November 26th, 2021 Movie Release Year: 2021

House of Gucci - Theatrical Review

Overview -

Ridley Scott is on quite a hot streak as of late. The Alien director has had two films released in 2021. First being the medieval movie with the all-star cast in The Last Duel, and now his passion project House Of Gucci about the fashion mogul family and their turbulent and murderous past. House Of Gucci plays out like a lighter and less violent Martin Scorsese film. However, it has those excellent elements of amazing and layered characters and a story that humorously navigates family turmoil, betrayal, and murder. With some truly outstanding performances from everyone involved and one fascinating take on the real-life turmoil and murder within the Gucci family - House Of Gucci impresses delisted its overly long run-time of 157 minutes. Highly Recommended!

House of Gucci is now in theaters - Order Your Tickets On Fandango!

OVERALL:
Highly Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Length:
157
Release Date:
November 26th, 2021

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

Ridley Scott purchased the rights to this Gucci story back in 2006 after he came across the book The House Of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by author Sara Gay Forden. Since then, the film has gone through many iterations and has had a treasure trove of actors coming aboard to play the titular roles, before eventually landing with Ridley himself behind the director's chair. Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, and Jared Leto were cast as this dysfunctional family and the results are extraordinary. The film can lag in a few places, especially towards the final act of the film, but the journey to get there along with the stellar performances by everyone is truly outstanding and worth the extra time.

Those who don't know the history behind the Gucci family are in for a treat here. Before the mid-'90s, Gucci was strictly owned by the family. The two estranged brothers Aldo (Al Pacino) and Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) Gucci ran the company how they saw fit, never really changing the style over the years. They had two sons Maurizio (Adam Driver) and Paolo (Jared Leto). The latter was an eccentric goofball who wanted nothing more than to run the Gucci company one day, but like a red-headed stepchild, Paolo never lived up to anything serious and was considered the black sheep and clown of the family.

Maurizio on the other hand did not want to be part of the family business and went the lawyer route until he met a woman by the name of Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga). She persuaded him to join the family business and blinded by greed and money, pitted the entire family against each other by way of lies and deceit so that each person in the family was forced out of their role in the company. The plan ultimately backfired - but for those who don't know the story, you're in for a treacherous treat.

Becky Johnston's (Prince of Tides, Under The Cherry Moon) adapted screenplay weaves a complicated tale of distrust within the family that has some twisted, dark humor around every corner. And much like the gangster films of Scorsese, House Of Gucci introduces a number of memorable characters that deal in some questionable practices and events where people are blindsided by actions that change the course of their lives. There is not one single character that anyone should be excited about or root for on a legal or good citizen level here. But their charisma and charm make them anti-heroes of sorts where everyone would want to be a part of this crazy family, even with all the drama just to be a fly on the wall. Maurizio and Patrizia's early romance seemed innocent enough full of kisses, parties, and love, but there are hidden crumbs of her sinister ambition early on as she manipulates everyone around her, which Lady Gaga performs expertly.

In fact, Lady Gaga's performance might be one of the best performances in a movie of 2021. Her commitment to the role, body language, dialect, and accent are all outstanding. It's convincing enough that if she were to pull out this character in real life, nobody would know it was in fact, Lady Gaga. She's that good. Driver is stellar once again as the calm and collected son of Gucci, whereas Al Pacino has a ball yelling and screaming in his usual candor when something goes wrong. Jared Leto is the comedic relief of the film and plays up some Italian stereotypes in a hilarious way. He's virtually unrecognizable under all the makeup and bald cap, but his delivery as the clown and over-the-top disappointment of a son is just downright funny.

Video Review

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Audio Review

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Special Features

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Final Thoughts

The music by Harry Gregson-Williams is phenomenal and adds every bit of suspense to the story here, along with an odd song list that pits some pop tunes in unlikely places. But it works for this film. Ridley Scott's direction is beautiful and feels like the best of Scorsese at times. House of Gucci is a fantastic ride that tells the true-life tale of what happened in the Gucci family before the company was sold off to corporate owners. Even if you know the story, you should get a kick out of this wild ride of a film. Highly Recommended! 

House of Gucci is now in theaters - Order Your Tickets On Fandango!