November in Review - #1, HOUSE OF GUCCI

Genre: Drama

Director: Ridley Scott

Writers: Becky Johnston (screenplay by) & Roberto Bentivegna (screenplay by) / Sara Gay Forden (based on the book by)

Starring: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Irons and Jack Huston

Ridley Scott's House of Gucci movie trailer sold me some kind of "movie madness", but the real movie feels tepid overall, warm at sometimes, when it could be some kind of hot or explosive.  Not great, not bad, not that good... House of Gucci is "just" decent when it could have been great. Still, it has some aspects that make it totally worth a watch, with Lady Gaga's dynamite performance as Patrizia Reggiani being the movie's secret ingredient.

The movie follows Patrizia Reggiani (Gaga), who meets (and then marries) Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), a member of the wealthy Gucci family that holds a fashion empire and then (basically) Patrizia's ambitions start a family war that leads to a sequence of schemes, revenge acts and end in her husband's murder - sounds a bit wild, right? Still, there are a lot of writing issues and Ridley Scott's direction might feel a bit inconsistent at times in what comes to the movie's tone (it never keeps a "straight" face), but Lady Gaga's fascinating performance helps audiences overcoming the weaker aspects. 

In fact, some might say Gaga doesn't have "the scene" or "the monologue" and that's true - she has a whole movie on her feet. A wrong casting choice to play Patrizia would have been disastrous for the movie, but the pop star proves she has turned into a movie star. Gaga plays a bright eyed Patrizia who has found her prince charming at the very beginning of the movie and then she turns her character into an ambitious and ruthless feminist b*tch who's trying to create her own opportunities and to fight for whats "hers" - and it is a very sensitive character development few actual movie stars have. In House of Gucci, Gaga estabilishes herself as a competent actress and she proves to be destined to movie stardom. A Star Is Born was no beginners luck and she features a better and more complex performance here.

After Gaga, it is Al Pacino who delivers the best performance in House of Gucci as Aldo Gucci, the businessman who founded the Gucci fashion company. Pacino settles a tone for Aldo and he stays faithful to the character's essence he created since he first appears on screen: an old soul full of energy, with an eye on the future but with too much trouble about embracing the crazy 80s vibes because he wants to stay true to his (and his company's) soul. It's a balanced and charismatic performance, unlike Jared Leto who delivers a completely wild acting performance - Leto is so wild and showy here as Paolo that he touches ridiculousness and some moments of true bad acting, remembering all of us that being showy doesn't mean being good (just like what his character does with his fashion creations). Adam Driver is competent as Maurizio Gucci, while both Jeremy Irons and Salma Hayek have little to do with their characters.

As for other elements of the movie: Janty Yates' costume design work is amazing! From party gowns to classical suits and dresses to (MINI SPOILER) Tom Ford's creations (END OF SPOILER), her work is simply eye-catching and beautiful to look at. The makeup and hair work is also quite impressive, specially considering they transformed the pretty faced Jared Leto into the bald and uninteresting Paolo Gucci. The sound department was fine, but the song choices for some scenes had nothing to do with the vibe or simply lacked context.

In the end, House of Gucci is saved by Lady Gaga's performance with a little help from Adam Driver and Al Pacino's works too, who took on very interesting characters and elevated them above the script. Ridley Scott could have done better (like he did with The Last Duel)... he could have tried to keep Jared Leto under control, at least. The movie didn't reached its full potential, which is a pitty, because the story of Patrizia Reggiani and Maurizio Gucci has everything to make a hell of an explosive drama.

RATING: 6 / 10

Oscar potential categories:

• Best Actress (Lady Gaga)
• Best Supporting Actor (Jared Leto) *
• Best Supporting Actor (Al Pacino)
• Best Costume Design (Janty Yates)
• Best Makeup & Hair

* unfortunately, for some"showy" means Oscar-worthy and I can't deny the buzz around Leto's performance, in spite of his unworthiness (I hope it doesn't happen)