“House of Gucci” falls short of expectations
With an extensive budget of 75 million dollars and its suspenseful build up, the world expected “House of Gucci,” directed by Ridley Scott, to be a huge hit but it unfortunately missed the mark. The movie has been in theatres since Nov. 24 and currently has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of only 61 percent. The film even faced backlash from the Gucci Family themselves as well as negative comments from Tom Ford, Gucci’s creative director for 10 years, though he made a point in commending the actors.
The movie follows Patrizia Reggani who falls head over heels for Maurizio Gucci – and his money. Patrizia and Maurizio are soon married and Patrizia is introduced to her new husband’s family. Patrizia attempts to push her ideas for the Gucci company and soon finds herself high up in the ranks of this luxury brand. She even goes as far as manipulating members of the family to go against each other. But this does not come without a price. Annoyed by her outspoken personality, Maurizio, a man who was previously madly in love with his wife, starts to push his wife away from the Gucci family and they suffer marital problems. Patrizia tries to salvage an already crumbling relationship.
Though the entire movie is about the infamous fashion house, barely any of it focuses on the fashion itself, rather it highlights the family dynamic of the Gucci’s, which I found to be a bit boring and repetitive after a while. The film lasts a painful 2 hours and 38 minutes, many of the scenes were unnecessary and flat out boring. Finally, the most important part of the film, the murder of Maurizio Gucci, was only given about ten minutes of screentime.
Though the film itself was a disappointment, the performances of Lady Gaga and Adam Driver were not. I was shocked by how similar the pair looked and acted to the infamous couple they portrayed. Similarly, Jared Leto, who played Pablo Gucci, provided a refreshingly hilarious performance. Though it was long and dry at some points, I did enjoy learning about the history of the Gucci family as I had no prior knowledge before watching the film.
Though there were a few positive aspects, watching “House of Gucci” was truly, as Tom Ford put it, “like surviving a hurricane.”
