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My House of Gucci Review (semi-spoilers)


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Ghost Face

Background: Dutch (M/28y) - actor, director & teacher in theatre (just graduated).

Cinema Visit: 11/25/21 - fully sold out and completely packed with GP.

Public Reactions: many laughters during the Jared Leto scenes. Afterwards I heard mainly positive things and lots of praise towards Gaga.

☆☆☆

This is my honest (little-spoilerish) review - It doesn't contain major plot-spoilers

House Of Gucci GIF by Regal

Thanks to the beautiful scenography and it's stunning fashion (duh!) 'House of Gucci' manages in it's first minutes to perfectly sketch the world in which we as spectators will immerse ourselves for the next 158 minutes. Through his commitment to style, locations, art and architecture, it took director Ridley Scott only a brief moment to captivate the viewer. The acting of the top-notch cast certainly contributes to this level of audience engagement.

THE CAST

To start with Lady Gaga: just wow. Her character undergoes a major development throughout the story, which gives her the opportunity to show the audience multiple sides of Patrizia. And therefore a change to show them several tricks from her so seemed unlimited box of acting skills. Damn, the girl she's got it! Gaga undeniable understood the assignment of being an actress. She embraces her character fully and doesn't let go one bit. The small changes in her gaze, the control & use of her bodylanguage, the silences she adds in her dialogues; it all contribute to the credibility of her character. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta perfectly played with the humanity of the role and made the audience (almost) want to find somekind of empathy or understanding for 'the villain' of the story.

It did took me a couple minutes before I fully accepted her accent tho. At times it sounded more Eastern-European to me. But once accepted, it was no issue at all. That's because of the persuasiveness way she used it, and how confident she portrays Patrizia in general. There was just only one scene I didn't quite believed her; the crying in front of her child's school. I don't know why, but the credibility of the cry was just missing to me.

Nevertheless, Lady Gaga had me glued to the screen by giving the total package and a full 100% performance. She really did hold her own besides this cast of well seasoned actors. :vegas:

Lady Gaga What GIF by House of Gucci

Due to his way of acting, Jared Leto brought a so-called 'style break' with his character. He acts with a different energy and played his role bigger than the rest of the cast. Some may call it 'over-acting', I did too at his first appearance. But once I got used to Jared's weirdish style, I kinda digged it. I even caught myself looking forward to his scenes. He really brings the comical note and at times the plot benefited enormously from that. The energy of the story rippled more than once and when Leto appeared the energy certainly raised. He did a great job.

In addition to his character, Pablo had a kind of touchiness about him what made me eventually root for him. 

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Adam Driver's awkwardness suited his character perfectly, although his Maurizio could have had a little more depth. The transition from  'grey mouse' to this somehow rude businessman should have been worked out more detailed. His character needed more attention; it lacked explanation about his motivations and (no pun intended) drive.

Sad Adam Driver GIF by House of Gucci

Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, Salma Hayek, they all fit perfectly with the roles they play. They really did cast this movie excellently, with space for every actor to prove their chops. 

Al Pacino in particular, his whole aura fits the story and makes you instantly want to listen to him the moment he appears on screen.

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THE STORY

In the beginning, the focus is on establishing the relationship between Patrizia and Mauritzo. A somewhat gooey, almost fairytale-like story, which helps in understanding Patrizia's later motivations; I honestly do believe she loved that man. 

The speed with which the scenes follow each other in the first half of the movie, especially the ones that showed the cycle of the relationship, gave me 'Rom-Com' vibes. They cut the scenes too fast. From the first meeting, to meeting the in-laws, to getting married and having kids. It came at a breakneck pace and despite the use of so-called 'time-jumps', it still got me like: "that's not how it works in real life". The chemistry between Adam and Gaga is enormous and splashes off the screen tho, which kept me involved in the course of their story. The much-discussed sex scene is hilarious, just a shame we don't got a little peek of the Driver's D., oh well.

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I don't quite get the criticisms about 'a boring, too long & missing plot'. I remained involved throughout the whole runtime. Yes, the plot felt a bit all over the place in the middle of it, and with some storylines you can ask if they where really needed? Jet, I remained curious about the overall course. The movie make the audience want to know which familymember will stab the next knife in the other's back and curious about the future of the Gucci legacy.

I also wildly disagree with some of the reports that claim Patrizia is missing in the so-called 'third-act'. Almost every scene features Patrizia, particularly in the beginning. This is why the audience get most involved with her character. I do agree her story can be seen as 'the main-story' and that some of the later storylines felt at parts more like a distraction to it. But in spite of that, the moments without her (and those aren't really that much) where a smart move of mister Scott. To me it added some tension to the story. Each time she reappeared my curiosity for her next move did only increased.

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Contrary to some of the critics, the 'time-jumps' didn't confused me at all. It's perfectly able for the audienceto to follow the timeline just fine. What those jumps do provide tho, are moments of 'lack'. The film has several points where it build up some tension to certain actions of characters, but after those actions most of the scenes where immediately cut and the story makes another jump in time.

You know the saying 'every action has its consequences'? With 'House of Gucci' Scott did show us the actions, but rarely took time to dive in the consequences. The end is a perfect example of that; just when you go like: 'I'm curious how this will play out', the 83-years old director made an uncreative choice in his direction that, to me, felt a bit lazy. The movie knows several of those moments and unfortunately they do no justice to the story.

Lady Gaga Reaction GIF by House of Gucci

'House of Gucci' did a pretty good job! Sure, it has it's flaws; like a plot full of holes, that lacks in depth & layers. But in the end the movie does get to manage to convince her audience by it's perfect soundtrack, beautiful sketch of the zeitgeist, breathtaking scenography, on fleek fashion - hair & make-up and offcourse by it's magnificent actors.

☆☆☆

:pawsup:

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19 minutes ago, Alice 911 said:

'a too long & missing plot'

In my opinion, if anything (spoiler):

Spoiler

There was quite a lot of plot squeezed into the middle third - I wonder if the whole blonde mistress sideplot could have been left out completely (without losing much of the story)

 

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Ghost Face
4 minutes ago, samaria said:

In my opinion, if anything (spoiler):

  Hide contents

There was quite a lot of plot squeezed into the middle third - I wonder if the whole blonde mistress sideplot could have been left out completely (without losing much of the story)

 

I totally understand! By left out some of those parts they also could create a bit more space to add depth to the other, more important storylines.

But what I say is that the movie despite the squeezed parts, to me didn't feel 'to long'. It managed to kept me involed throughout the end. When I watched James Bond last week, with a similar runtime, I caught myself checking the time on my phone. I didn't had the urge during this one at all.

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ProfessionalClown

I’ve seen a lot mock people who said theres no plot but MANY more say there was too much and should’ve been longer.

im hoping the uncut/extended/directors cut version is 3 hours 

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Bonkers

I agree with your review because that's what I wanted to hear. :haroon:

Thank you :kiss:

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SharkmanthaC

I agree with a lot of what you said. Gaga's acting is amazing. And your comments about the plot are accurate. There is so much history to squeeze in the movie, they had to pick and choose how to put it all in a time limit and make it understandable. Like @ProfessionalClown I'm hoping for the extended cut.

she/her/hers
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BlingNotTheMusic

Wow @Alice 911 I had no idea you were such a good writer! :applause:

I just got home from seeing HoG and everything you wrote is 100% correct. In short, Gaga is CLOSE TO FLAWLESS, only missing the mark slightly in my opinion. But dang, she got me teary eyed in several of her emotional scenes. 

In short:

Gaga as Patrizia: 9/10

Remaining Actors: 8/10

Story/Plot: 6/10 (was very disjointed)

Soundtrack: 10/10!!!!!

Cinematography + Fashion: 11/10 WOW

So the main cons, imo, were the actual jagged plot and editing (some scenes I wanted to last longer and they cut too quickly, some they lingered in and it was awkward. Also the ending is VERY abrupt. Like....ok? Even the little text that comes up to explain what happens to everyone is super fast and I barely was able to read it all.

I'm going to see it again in a few days, so maybe my opinion will change, but you nailed the review and it was super honest imo. 

Gaga continues to dominate acting, y'all.  Nothing to worry about for award season. She'll be nominated and we'll get red carpet looks, which is all that really matters in the end anyway :huntyga:

Lady Gaga Runway GIF by Regal

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SharkmanthaC
3 minutes ago, WheresMy911Alice said:

Wow @Alice 911 I had no idea you were such a good writer! :applause:

I just got home from seeing HoG and everything you wrote is 100% correct. In short, Gaga is CLOSE TO FLAWLESS, only missing the mark slightly in my opinion. But dang, she got me teary eyed in several of her emotional scenes. 

In short:

Gaga as Patrizia: 9/10

Remaining Actors: 8/10

Story/Plot: 6/10 (was very disjointed)

Soundtrack: 10/10!!!!!

Cinematography + Fashion: 11/10 WOW

So the main cons, imo, were the actual jagged plot and editing (some scenes I wanted to last longer and they cut too quickly, some they lingered in and it was awkward. Also the ending is VERY abrupt. Like....ok? Even the little text that comes up to explain what happens to everyone is super fast and I barely was able to read it all.

I'm going to see it again in a few days, so maybe my opinion will change, but you nailed the review and it was super honest imo. 

Gaga continues to dominate acting, y'all.  Nothing to worry about for award season. She'll be nominated and we'll get red carpet looks, which is all that really matters in the end anyway :huntyga:

Lady Gaga Runway GIF by Regal

You're right about that soundtrack though. It was amazing. And Gaga's makeup was on point the entire movie. 

I want the sunglasses from this gif so bad. :toofunny:

she/her/hers
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BlingNotTheMusic
3 minutes ago, SamanthaC said:

You're right about that soundtrack though. It was amazing. And Gaga's makeup was on point the entire movie. 

I want the sunglasses from this gif so bad. :toofunny:

Too bad they cut most of that from the movie, and you only see her at the very end of the clip taking her sunglasses off. 

I think they just had SO MUCH footage and didn't really know how or what to cut. It was not my favorite editing clearly lol. It was almost distracting. But overall I loved just watching Gaga do her thing for 2+ hours :heart: 

I'm so happy for her. I kept smiling in the beginning every time she came on screen.

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Ghost Face
33 minutes ago, Bonkers said:

I agree with your review because that's what I wanted to hear. :haroon:

Thank you :kiss:

Lady Gaga Flirting GIF by E!

It's an honor.
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Ghost Face
18 minutes ago, WheresMy911Alice said:

Wow @Alice 911 I had no idea you were such a good writer! :applause:

I just got home from seeing HoG and everything you wrote is 100% correct. In short, Gaga is CLOSE TO FLAWLESS, only missing the mark slightly in my opinion. But dang, she got me teary eyed in several of her emotional scenes. 

In short:

Gaga as Patrizia: 9/10

Remaining Actors: 8/10

Story/Plot: 6/10 (was very disjointed)

Soundtrack: 10/10!!!!!

Cinematography + Fashion: 11/10 WOW

So the main cons, imo, were the actual jagged plot and editing (some scenes I wanted to last longer and they cut too quickly, some they lingered in and it was awkward. Also the ending is VERY abrupt. Like....ok? Even the little text that comes up to explain what happens to everyone is super fast and I barely was able to read it all.

I'm going to see it again in a few days, so maybe my opinion will change, but you nailed the review and it was super honest imo. 

Gaga continues to dominate acting, y'all.  Nothing to worry about for award season. She'll be nominated and we'll get red carpet looks, which is all that really matters in the end anyway :huntyga:

Lady Gaga Runway GIF by Regal

Ahw thanks sweetie

:kiss:

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HookerOnAChurch

Plus, the last scene is so spontaneous and outstanding at the same time.. it give me chills. Gaga is an incredible actress :firega:

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Ghost Face
43 minutes ago, Madam Margolyes said:

Me clicking on this thread knowing HoG is gonna be released mid December in my country :toofunny:

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQAgjMa7_5d-K727OjBnAh

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It's an honor.
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