Thanksgiving is a holiday renowned for its food, football, and the gathering of families. As we all know, family outings always go exactly as planned and everyone always gets along. No wait... That’s not right. It is not family unless it is steeped in dysfunction and arguments. That is what makes movies about families and their troubles so compelling, because at some level, everyone can relate. Some familial dysfunction is on a whole other level than others, but everyone has some. So, when watching a movie like House of Gucci, one may not be able to relate to wealth, but one can relate to family members being on different pages and not being able to find any common ground.
House of Gucci is a lavish story about the downfall of the Gucci family’s control of what was their company. The film starts out with Maurizio, Adam Driver, and Patrizia, Lady Gaga, meeting and falling in love, but Rodolfo, Maurizio's father, does not believe that Patrizia is truly in love with his son. He believes that she is just in it for the money, and from their first few initial awkward interactions, it does seem believable that she might not really be into him. Nonetheless, Maurizio abandons his fortunes and marries Patrizia, and he goes to work for her father who owns a truck driving company. Eventually with the guiding hand of Patrizia, Maurizio is able to finagle his way back into the good graces of his family. This is also due to his uncle Aldo, Al Pacino, helping Maurizio get involved again, but the catch was Maurizio had to back Aldo instead of his father, thus giving Aldo the majority control of the company. The variable that went unaccounted for by Aldo was Patrizia. She saw the potential of her and her husband being atop the empire, and she had a plan to cut everyone else out so she and Maurizio would rule, and it worked. At least until Maurizio’s head got to inflated. He abandoned Patrizia, and found a new lover, but his new partners were not happy with his business practices, mainly his excessive spending on personal goods with company money, and tried to buy him out of the business, and Patrizia feeling spurned and forlorn hires an assassin to take out Maurizio. Thus the implosion of the House of Gucci.
As previously mentioned, family dysfunction is always a story that sells well, and there have been numerous stories about that dysfunction that resonate today that were written hundreds of years ago, but as of recently, it seems like stories about the dysfunction of the rich have hit a stride recently. Succession is currently the biggest show on TV right now, and it is about a family that runs a media company and trying to figure out who will take over when the dad steps down or dies. Spencer also just came out, and that delved into the family tension going on within the royal family when Diana was a part of it. So, it makes sense that a film like this would garner a ton of attention and be a large crowd pleaser.
The film will also draw attention from the director, Ridley Scott. Scott is one of the most prominent and acclaimed directors working right now. For the past few decades, he has repeatedly put out gems. At least two of his films belong in the pantheon of film, if not more. Gladiator and Alien are both highly acclaimed and Alien has been a very influential inspiration in countless Sci-Fi films since its production. This was Ridley Scott's second release of the year. The first was The Last Duel, which was one of my favorites of the year and one of the best, but sadly it did very poorly in the box office. So hopefully this one will perform better.
This movie was mainly filmed in Italy, and it is about an Italian family, but the cast is almost all Americans using Italian accents, and they all went for it. The cast was star studded and filled with excellent performances. The best was Lady Gaga as Patrizia. Patrizia was of more modest roots, but she had a vision and was willing to execute it. She did not care that at this time women were viewed as lesser; she was going to go after what she wanted. Lady Gaga played this powerful woman well, and she transformed as the character did. Lady Gaga's appearance mirrored that of the journey Patrizia was upon. When Patrizia was on the rise and at the top, Lady Gaga acted and looked the part. She exuded strength and power, but when Patrizia was sinking into despair, the transformation Lady Gaga went through to appear tortured was incredible.
Adam Driver's performance was less good, it felt like he was too focused on the accent than trying to give his typical superb performance. Normally he gives loud and emotional performances, but in this instance for most of the movie, he was tame. Towards the end of the movie, he ramped up his performance more as he tried to become his own man once he had all the power, but it was still not peak Adam Driver.
The person who stole the show in the best and worst way was Jared Leto in his performance as Palo. Palo was the outcast and eccentric son of Aldo. He had big dreams and thought of himself as the next face of fashion, but he was clearly not. So, Leto giving an out there and over exaggerated performance was perfect. Almost all his dialogue was composed of one liners and each one was like a heat check. He was lobbing them up from well behind the three-point line with a lack of care if they hit or were funny. The lines were so ridiculous that one could not help but shake their head. His performance was so over the top, that it was commendable. It also created an odd feeling watching him, because in the movie he is this unintentionally comedic figure, but in real life he would be viewed in a more tragic lens. He was constantly being demeaned by his family and made fun of. There was self-delusion about his talent, and he died alone and impoverished.
In the end the company was completely taken from the Gucci family due to their lack of cooperation and financially irresponsible choices. Oddly enough if the Gucci family stayed in charge, it probably would have tanked the company. They were stuck in the past and were losing steam in the public eye, but if all the members of the family had worked together instead of constantly trying to backstab each other and fight, who knows what might have been the result. Although all families have their conflicts they can be overcome with some compromise, but the Gucci brand survived and was revived, and it is still internationally renowned today.
This was one of the better movies of the year. It had excellent performances, and it was extravagant and elegant and steeped with conflict, and it had an excellent soundtrack to back it up. It was stretched a little long. Over two and a half hours. The length did leave it with some lulls, but for the most part it was entertaining throughout. The conflict made the story twist and turn in different directions, and it was amplified by the ostentatious performances from those involved. I give this movie 4 stars and would recommend going to see it in the theater. The fashion and beautiful landscapes and architecture of Italy are best viewed on the big screen.
Other Movies This Week:
Tick, Tick, Boom: The story of a musical play writer, and his journey to become famous that is cut short. He is willing to do whatever it takes to make it, and he hurts some relationships in the process, but he learns the importance of chasing a dream when a friend has his life shortened. What starts out as a decent musical about a man chasing his dreams turns into an emotional wrecking ball.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City: It was suspenseful and creepy, but the acting and CGI was horrendous.
Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Never pick up hitchhikers and never go into a house in the middle of nowhere. A lot of build up for one long chase scene.
Zola: An artistic and colorful tale based on a Twitter thread about two girls that go on a pole dancing trip to Tampa to make some cash, but it unexpectedly turns into a prostitution operation.
Lady Bird: A beautiful coming of age story about a girl with a dream without the means to obtain it financially and academically. There are strong themes of the haves vs. The have not and being yourself. The family dynamic is dysfunctional and harsh, but it is steeped in love nonetheless.
DMX: Don't Try to Understand: It was sad watching this and knowing he is gone. I feel for Exodus. Not as good as the other music box docs so far, but not bad.
Encanto: The weight of familial expectations, especially if they are unobtainable, are heavy. A little deep for younger kids, the little girl in front of me DNFed because, "I don't like it." Walking the tightrope of making a film that is enjoyable and meaningful for children and adults is tough, but normally Disney does a good job.
The Nightmare Before Christmas: I had never seen this before, but I figured a creepy Christmas movie would be right up my avenue. It was good enough. For a kids movie it was creepy, and I appreciated it being so different from other Christmas movies, but I would rather watch the original animated Grinch.
New Rankings:
House of Gucci: 4 Stars
Tick Tick Boom: 3.5 Stars
Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City: 2.5 Stars
Texas Chain Saw Massacre: 3 Stars
Zola: 3.5 Stars
Lady Bird: 5 Stars
DMX: Don't Try to Understand: 3 Stars
Encanto: 3 Stars
The Nightmare Before Christmas: 3 Stars
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