Director: Ridley Scott

Release Date: Nov. 24, 2021

Starring: Lady Gaga(Patrizia Reggiani), Adam Driver( Maurizio Gucci), Vincent Riotta(Fernando Reggiani), Jared Leto(Paolo Gucci), Salma Hayek (Pina Auriemma), Rodolfo Gucci (Jeremy Irons)

MPAA Rating: R

Our Rating: B

“House of Gucci”, based on true events and depiction of Sara Gay Fordmans book: “The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour”, perfectly displays the drama of families behind the scenes.

The film unveils the murderous love story between ordinary girl Patrizia Reggiani and Gucci’s heir Maurizio Gucci. A tale of betrayal orchestrated after Patrizia’s taste into the dysfunctional fashion dynasty leaves her plotting the Italian legacies’ downfall. But after having a “rags to Gucci” moment of endless clothes and money, it is a family to kill for.

After deciding to watch the film based on sparked interest from the aesthetically pleasing trailer, the film itself leaves audiences wondering if they are watching the correct movie.

While the trailer depicted “House of Gucci” as a fashionable glamorous film that revolved around the family takeover, the storyline slowly became disorganized and unable to differentiate between which characters point of view we were watching the events unfold.

The movie seems to be divided into two parts. The initial half successfully attracts the audience with Patrizia and Maurizio’s loving relationship that has the audience rooting for Maurizio until it descends due to Patrizia’s ploy to get her husband back into the family business.

The second half portrays Maurizio’s change in character as he divorces Patrizia for a younger woman. These swift changes add to the viewer’s confusion as they ponder the true direction of the film and its message.

The leading characters were played spectacularly by Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, who carried the film’s writing through their accurate portrayals. Gaga prepared for the role by living 18 months as Patrizia Reggiani, in order to perfect her accent. Throughout her preparation, she began to adapt to Reggiani’s mindset on monetary value, a transformation so great it marked her mental health.

Contrasting the main character’s chemistry, the relationship between supporting characters such as Paolo Gucci and Aldo Gucci felt forced for comedic relief. While Aldo Gucci remained key to his role and maintained a believable accent, Paolo Gucci’s accent, played by Jared Leto, made his performance feel like an imitation of one of the Super Mario brothers.

“Honestly Lady Gaga and Adam Driver played the roles amazing having clear chemistry. Since they play such a large role if you saw Lady Gaga and not Patrizia the movie would have been horrible. I think the movie should have focused more on Patrizia and even made it from her point of view as a narrator to show detail by detail how the story happened and giving us a common outsider understanding,” sophomore Yossy Gallardo said.

With key moments of drama and a mixture of laughs, this film is recommended due to its spot-on performances from the many Academy award-winning actors featured. Even so, the film’s dialogue and rushed ending was masked by the actors’ ability to create a pleasing movie with noteworthy acting alongside cinematic elements that provided the viewing to be an enjoyable experience.