House of Gucci (2021) Dir. Ridley Scott

Hot on the heels of the pandemic-delayed The Last Duel, Ridley Scott returns just months later with a new biographical drama about the underhand dealings of the Italian fashion giants Gucci.

Trying to add a certain epic-ness to the proceedings, can the 158-minutes long film maintain Godfather levels of backstabbing and betrayal? Well, no. But there are lots of positives.

Based on the 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden, the movie sees Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani whose marriage to Adam Driver’s Maurizio Gucci starts a battle to control the famous clothing brand.

Gaga’s feisty Patrizia falls for Maurizio, a law student and heir to the fashion house. But he is disowned by his father Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) who feels she is just out for his fortune. However, once she becomes pregnant a reconciliation via Maurizio’s uncle Aldo (Al Pacino) occurs and as Aldo personally takes the couple under his wing, they learn more about the ruthless practices needed to keep afloat.

Moving from late 70s to mid 80s, Scott covers a large period of time and the soundtrack of pop-classics are excellent era-specific musical montages to echo the feel of the decade of decadence. However, they also bring attention to the film I sometimes wish I was watching – a faster paced exaggerated romp akin to The Wolf of Wall Street

The film sadly takes an age to get going and for a film about family feuds, criminal enterprises and corporate melodrama, it’s surprisingly restrained in all those areas.

“It’s a-me, Jared Leto!”

Also along for the ride is Jared Leto, caked in make-up and prosthetics to play the bald wannabe-designer Paolo Gucci. And he seems to have dropped in from another movie altogether. Leto’s ludicrous performance fits in with the camp OTT film the trailer sells you but Gucci is far more straight laced than that.

Back to the story. As shares of the Gucci empire are traded behind closed doors, Maurizio tires of his wife’s scheming and interfering yet their split leads to Patrizia maniacally pursuing him to reconcile. But with Maurizio facing his own troubles, he's not interested and moves on without the woman who helped him get where he is.

The stellar cast give it their all with Gaga terrific as the passionate businesswoman who often boils over into obsession. Driver too gives as good as he gets and their chemistry on screen is palpable. Leto’s strange delivery aside, the support from Pacino is excellent and Jeremy Irons is all sunken cheeks and smoking jackets as the curmudgeonly head of the family business.

But somehow these brilliant attributes don’t quite click. It’s overlong and the emphasis on the business’ development is at the cost of compelling drama. It’s not unfair to say a good 30 minutes could have been cut and perhaps Scott could have even started the film halfway through the story allowing the more time to focus on the scheming, and more interesting, ending events.

That said, I don’t think you’ll have too bad of a time with House of Gucci. The performances alone are superb and its focus on dodgy wills and shady deals are engaging on the surface. Yet the cut of the story hangs slightly off its bloated shoulders. Ultimately, like a well-dressed model falling flat on the catwalk, House of Gucci appears to have all the right style but fails in front of an audience with high expectations.

★★★½☆

Michael Sales