Movie Review: House of Gucci Is A Toxic Glam Telenovela
I cried during House of Gucci. The film plays like a dramatic, foreboding, even Shakespearean novella on how family and business truly cannot mix. Why? Because you never know when it is love or money that is motivating those around you to push you for success. The lines blur between investing in someone’s heart versus their bank account, and, on November 24, the Guccis go from fashion house to fable.
Currently, there are no living Guccis that run Gucci and the level of conniving, betrayal, and, eventually, murder that leads to one of the greatest fashion houses not being run by its own namesake is absolutely tragic. The “myth” of the FALL OF GUCCI can, technically, begin even before Maurizio (Adam Driver) and Patrizia (Lady Gaga). When you have a family business there is an inherent clash between generations and their perception of what it means to take their “money-maker” into the future. Aldo (played so fabulously by Al Pacino) sees himself as the builder of his father’s empire, Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) the designer, and their sons frustrated as to whether inheriting a dynasty means you lose your voice.
Jared Leto plays Paolo, and my boy got screwed at the end. He is, basically, the blubbering idiot of the family, and it is hard not to feel both bad and grossed by Leto’s caricature portrayal of this sad dunce. Yet, you feel bad for him because he is somebody that wants to do more and do better, but whether he is actually good enough remains a mystery because the Guccis are not, exactly, getting together for Thanksgiving, which is where Patrizia finds her “in” and Gaga delivers a performance that does not try to glorify or abdicate that Ms.Reggiani is horrible person.
My grandmother always said that you can only be friends with a “snake” for so long. I always wondered if she said that because the “snake” would eventually betray and bite you or you would get tired of hanging out with a snake. The murkiness of this dynamic is what defines Maurizio and Patrizia. It is why even shady characters like, Salma Hayek’s Pina and Jack Huston’s Domenico De Sole are able to wedge between them, and why, ultimately, Driver and Gaga carry Ridely Scott’s creation on THEIR BACKS! At a whopping 180 minutes, as a New Yorker, I welcome a long ,immersive film considering our movie prices are through the roof. House of Gucci gives viewers an introspective, philosophical analysis on whether a bad person can truly love.
From the beginning, Patrizia dreams of wealth, and Maurizio is like a door in front of a mansion that won’t open. In the same way she aims for money, he aims to get away from it; fantasizing more about her humbler lifestyle because he already knows money fuels family drama, which is why he prefers a family without it. Known for his serious roles and rather serious demeanor, Driver will enamor audiences with how sweet, noble, and goofy Maurizio, which makes his deathly end so sad. Out of every person on the screen, he was the only one that only wanted love and part of House of Gucci’s “mystery” is trying to figure out whether Patrizia ever did or could love him because her ambitions were always for power. In the end, Love is Power, but Power is not Love.
