House of Gucci

                   

Ridley Scott's House of Gucci filled me with ambivalence and not in a good way. He is a superb producer, stars flock to work in his luxe concoctions. He shoots films in an objective and commercial style that can turn good scripts into such superior films as Alien, Thelma and Louise, and The Counselor. Otherwise, his impersonal style fails to uplift middling material and House of Gucci is a subprime example. 

I won't go into the machinations of the Gucci clan that fill the two and a half hour run time. The film is at least a half an hour too long. It doesn't lumber, but no spark is lit. Lady Gaga and Adam Driver are well cast as a mismatched couple. Gaga provides the guttersnipe feistiness of a social climber and Driver can certainly do tall and awkward.👾 The rest of the cast is more than adequate, though Jared Leto seems to be in another movie, maybe a Super Mario Brothers reboot. However, a movie about the fashion industry needs a little campy outrageousness and Scott's anonymous craftmanship has none of that.

The film's attempts at humor, not Scott's forte, flounder. A raucous rugby game that introduces Leto's character is badly bungled. The disco and opera numbers on the soundtrack are tres obvious, tunes that have been done to death. House of Gucci, despite the obvious care of the production, is unfocused. Not really a melodrama, a true crime yarn or a chronicle of the fashion biz. Not really much of anything.

👾A number of people I am close to have mentioned how much they dislike Adam Driver. People, he can't help his looks! I find him a supple and versatile actor. He would make an interesting Lincoln.