House of Gucci

The storytelling is mostly mediocre, House of Gucci is mainly driven by the actors. It looks to me as if Ridley Scott came on the set and said "well, now you all play what you want, improvise as much as you can, but don't forget to pull the strongest Italian accent you can". And strangely enough, it usually works. Also, the make-up artists do a great job as always in Ridley's ensemble, because, for example, I recognized Jared Leto through his make-up after about an hour. If I had to choose between The Last Duel and House of Gucci, I would choose the historical drama, which is more focused, with a more honest, sensitively and carefully crafted story that leaves a stronger emotional impact. In the case of House of Gucci, what warms the viewer's heart the most, apart from the aforementioned actors, is perhaps only the great cinematography and the brilliant design of the costumes and interiors, which, of course, the filmmakers polished to the smallest detail as befits and belongs to an icon of luxury and glamour. (02/13/2022)

A superficial ride on the cheap tinsel of fashion mafiosi, which wallows in its own pompous chauvinism, but never once gets under your skin. Scott is a great man. For one hundred and fifty minutes he blows out the candles on a birthday cake sovereignly like Aldo, and you'll even forgive the shortness of breath. But when it's all over, you'll feel a little disappointed that a showrunner who wasn't afraid to push the characters through something deeper for eight up to ten hours didn’t take up the mantle. (11/22/2022)

This movie balances right on that line between three and four stars at this point. I was entertained by the entire one-hundred and sixty-four minutes of millionaire chess and backstabbing, plus it introduced a story I had no idea about before, and the ensemble cast is absolutely amazing, no question about it. I enjoyed the scenes with Irons, Leto, and Pacino the most (the latter, in particular, steals the show a lot, and I am glad he got so much screen time). I was slightly distracted by the variance in Italian accents with the actors (Driver, Irons, and Pacino were restrained X Gaga’s and Leto’s was totally extravagantly over the top). I found the movie a little disappointing because Ridley Scott had so much room to tell the overall story evenly in the space of two and a half hours. Despite that, he spent more time on some of the less crucial parts, which made the ending feel rushed by comparison. Therefore, the way the final scene is connected to what precedes it lacks any convincing explanation of how it came about and where the participants went wrong. Too bad, I found it all very interesting otherwise. (11/26/2021)

While I did expect something a bit better, still I can't help rating the second Ridley Scott film this year with anything other than a high score. Essentially, it's a brilliant conversation film with a slight thriller edge that benefits from a mega-awesome cast and the firm hand of one of the greatest contemporary directing legends. It's a really great 4-star film that’s only lacking some ultra-powerful moment to sway me towards that fifth one. However, the storytelling style, the fatefulness, and the incredible stylishness (represented by the ubiquitous extravagance) make this saga about the Gucci family one of the best I've seen this year. (11/25/2021)

Ridley Scott has a weaker moment and although this film is not completely bad, in my eyes it's his weakest work in the last five years. The story is quite interesting, but the execution is a bit bland and uninteresting. We follow the Gucci family and I was kind of hoping it would be a gangster movie, but it's more of a drama. The acting is solid. Adam Driver as Scott's new tagalong is decent, Lady Gaga is solid, Jared Leto was bit too theatrical for my taste, but the make-up was unreal, and Al Pacino was okay, except for the Italian accent, that bothered me a bit. I found the direction a bit cold and for the exorbitant 150 minute running time, the film offered very few interesting or attractive scenes. I didn't even care much about the fashion. Considering the subject matter, the actors and the director, I was expecting a film at least a level higher in all respects, but I got through it without too much trouble and I think three stars is adequate.Story 3/5, Action 0/5, Humour 0/5, Violence 1/5, Fun 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 4/5. 6/10. (02/08/2022)