I have seen my share of films that have everything going for it and in the end let me down more than they should. Take “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”: with J.J. Abrams as the director, the returning cast, and the state-of-the-art Disney checkbook, this should have been more than a remake of “A New Hope”. I felt cheated when I was leaving the theater, and with “House of Gucci,” I was wondering if it would be this same experience again.
Directed by Ridley Scott, this film has a true all-star cast of Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, Jared Leto and Selma Hayek. Based on the true story of the Gucci family, Maurizio Gucci (Driver) who marries Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) against the wishes of his father, Rodolfo (Irons), due to her lack of wealth and status. There is also Rodolfo’s brother, Aldo (Pacino) who owns the other half of the business while his son Paolo (Leto) continues to fail and disappointment. Maurizio has a good relationship with Aldo and brings him into the family business hoping to groom him to someday take over. As the years pass, Rodolfo makes peace with his Maurizio right before he passes away as Patrizia and Maurizio get power-hungry and try to get Aldo out of the way so the family business can be all theirs.
This film takes place mostly in Italy and New York and is shot very well with the urban hustle of The Big Apple in contrast to the beauty and nature that is Europe. With this huge cast however, I was disappointed with all five leads trying to do Italian accents, only Leto and Irons really were convincing to me. As the film goes on, I tried to get used to the lack of a convincing accent from Pacino, Lady Gaga, and Driver, but I just couldn’t get there. Although there may wind up being some recognition here (it’s definitely award bait), the only person who I feel truly deserves one is Leto.
It’s also important to know that “House of Gucci” is two hours and thirty-seven minutes long, and there could have easily had forty-five minutes to an hour cut out of it. The pace is REALLY slow, and there are a lot of scenes that were simply not needed Even with my my love for Scott as a director, I honestly am not sure what has been up with him lately. He has so many great films that go over that two-hour mark, but along with “The Last Duel,” I do not know what to think. This film had a lot going for it in theory, but it just falls flat, and as much as I don’t want to say it, I will never watch this film again.