House Of Gucci Review: Lady Gaga Does Her Best Dracula Voice In Ridley Scott’s Wicked Satire Of The Rich And Clueless – /Film

Anyone who bothers to look up the Wikipedia entry on the true story behind "House of Gucci" knows where this is leading: towards murder.But Scott and screenwritersBecky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna don't do the best job of setting this up. At some point,Maurizio's attitude changes drastically.And while this can be partially chalked up to him finally becoming aware of his wife's scheming, his actions seem to reflect something else. Is the film merely suggesting that power corrupts, and that Maurizio was a nice guy until he climbed the Gucci ladder? Maybe, maybe not.It's almost as if there's one extra scene missing, which is a curious thing since "House of Gucci" clocks in at157 minutes.

Scott's film seems surprisingly uninterested in the murder.Instead, "House of Gucci" unfolds as something of a soapy melodrama about a collection of oddballs. It's not just the wealthy Gucci family that the film has fun with. There's also a running subplot aboutPatrizia turning to a psychic, played by Salma Hayek, for advice. Just as Patrizia manipulates the Gucci family, so too does the psychic who resides in a rundown apartment teeming with cats manipulate Patrizia.Everyone here is out for themselves, and if someone gets hurt in the process, that's the price of getting ahead.

I enjoyed all of this, and yet, I wanted more. Something is missing here. The unbalanced nature of the film that tug of war between something classy and something lurid ultimately hurts "House of Gucci." I wish Scott had gone bigger here, and really leaned into the mockery.Instead, he seems content to keep things weirdly low-key, assuming that we'll get the point.We do, but "House of Gucci" would've been more successful if it fully embraced its inherent trashiness. Give us that sweet, sweet trash, Ridley.It's what we deserve.

/Film Rating: 7 out of 10

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House Of Gucci Review: Lady Gaga Does Her Best Dracula Voice In Ridley Scott's Wicked Satire Of The Rich And Clueless - /Film