I just watched HoG and...

[Hebi 13,928]

lemme give you a very quick review :

I must admit that I didn't have great expectations in Gaga's performance since from what I saw in the teasers (which I replayed over and over again) she looked so dramatic and over-the-top (I am very picky when it comes to acting) but when getting to know the story from beginning to end everything made sense! She completely exceeded my expectations and now she's my Oscar winner. It was her and the aura she expelled what actually carried the film. Thanks to her acting, when I finished watching the movie, I was left with a feeling of deep pain and regret for everything she had to go through. I'm not sure how close to real events the movie was but from what I saw Maurizio would've been nothing without Patrizia's cleverness in business (she was not wrong at all ). I also felt that some actors were intimidated by the great power of Lady Gaga, but, once again, one of my favorite actors of all time, Al Pacino, did not disappoint and despite his old age he gave one of his best performances as he always does. Gaga's performance is what I really want to see when I watch a biopic, I don't want it to be an exact imitation of the real person but to be pushed through the limits and show us what that person could've felt from another perspective. It was clear that Gaga gave her all and I can say for sure that she is a great GREAT actress and she was Born to Act!!!! 

[likeitrough 5,709]

I just finished it myself and loved it. I was really surprised afterwards how much I was rooting for such a manipulative and cunning character. She had everyone wrapped around her finger. It was awesome.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Hebi said:

intimidated by the great power of Lady Gaga, but, once again, one of my favorite actors of all time, Al Pacino, did not disappoint and despite his old age he gave one of his best performances as he always does.

He's my favorite actor too, he was so amazing in this, I found it so funny his rship with Leto, there were a lot of funny moments tbh.

I thought Gaga didn't disappoint, she was good in the movie, I'm not gonna say great but she was good and she's only starting so she's about to become great if she keeps doing this. 

The movie started out pretty well and ended up being a mess near the middle and then the end of the story. Suddenly Patrizia disappears and we don't see her, and then we see her when she wants revenge, it was abrupt, we should've seen the process of her being very upset with Maurizio. Another problem were some transitions, Maurizio being upset with Patrizia out of nowhere in the ski trip, didn't really understand why, and the abrupt change of time, suddenly they had a kid and it was the 90's. So badly done. The ending is weird, we see Tom Ford coming to save Gucci in a way, and then we see Patrizia plotting her ex husband's death and the scene where he dies is a couple minutes, and then we cut to Patrizia in court, and it's the end. I felt secondhand embarassment about that. Id be embarassed if I was the screenwriter and the director. This is bad, like really bad, it looks like a rookie did this or that a lot of scenes are missing. I gotta say, the editor is very important in a movie, they can **** up a whole movie, maybe they're to blame maybe not, but they **** up big time with this. A mess.

[CannaeDrive 3,412]

I've seen HoG three times in theater and I can totally relate to your review, thank you.

[CyanDante 5,885]

Like I am probably biased, but trying to keep bias aside. I have seen all the performances of the actresses this year in contention, and I found Gaga to be the best among them this year.  I already expect so much from her and she managed to even out-perform them. 

[Hebi 13,928]

1 minute ago, AnnaNicoleSmith said:

He's my favorite actor too, he was so amazing in this, I found it so funny his rship with Leto, there were a lot of funny moments tbh.

I thought Gaga didn't disappoint, she was good in the movie, I'm not gonna say great but she was good and she's only starting so she's about to become great if she keeps doing this. 

The movie started out pretty well and ended up being a mess near the middle and then the end of the story. Suddenly Patrizia disappears and we don't see her, and then we see her when she wants revenge, it was abrupt, we should've seen the process of her being very upset with Maurizio. Another problem were some transitions, Maurizio being upset with Patrizia out of nowhere in the ski trip, didn't really understand why, and the abrupt change of time, suddenly they had a kid and it was the 90's. So badly done. The ending is weird, we see Tom Ford coming to save Gucci in a way, and then we see Patrizia plotting her ex husband's death and the scene where he dies is a couple minutes, and then we cut to Patrizia in court, and it's the end. I felt secondhand embarassment about that. Id be embarassed if I was the screenwriter and the director. This is bad, like really bad, it looks like a rookie did this or that a lot of scenes are missing. I gotta say, the editor is very important in a movie, they can **** up a whole movie, maybe they're to blame maybe not, but they **** up big time with this. A mess.

That's why I said Gaga carried the movie in her back  I didn't want to comment about the picture itself... but yeah, it could've been A LOT better 'cause it actually HAD potential! the film didn't really delve into the relationships between characters and it felt shallow and messy at times. Still I enjoyed it. I gave it a 7 out of 10.

[Hebi 13,928]

4 minutes ago, CyanDante said:

Like I am probably biased, but trying to keep bias aside. I have seen all the performances of the actresses this year in contention, and I found Gaga to be the best among them this year.  I already expect so much from her and she managed to even out-perform them. 

Same... if I had to choose I would say Gaga, Kristen and Jessica Chastain had the best performances overall! 

[Fanta 5,019]

It was a good performance in a bad movie. I can imagine what Gaga must've thought the final edit would be like, and instead we got an iPhone camera filter and choppy storytelling. 

Had the movie received an indie-camp treatment no one would be dragging her (if we pretend those interviews never happened).

[shawcrxss 129]

6 minutes ago, Fanta said:

It was a good performance in a bad movie. I can imagine what Gaga must've thought the final edit would be like, and instead we got an iPhone camera filter and choppy storytelling. 

Had the movie received an indie-camp treatment no one would be dragging her (if we pretend those interviews never happened).

I agree, Gaga carried the movie but of course I’m gonna say that lol. In general I thought it was forgettable but Gaga’s performance was great. I haven’t seen it since the premiere. I just remember the first 30 minutes being enjoyable, and then 2.5 hours of not very much else. Biopics are typically always a mess though, you’re time limited. Less time, less detail, less quality. To be honest though, some lack of quality came from the director. Some scenes were lit horribly and the potential cinematography we didn’t get in such beautiful locations like Milan is criminal.

(spoilers) I thought the movie would have been better focusing on a shorter period of time - maybe from the turning point of the marriage failing and Patricia then ordering the assassination of her husband - and then the trial and sentencing that followed. You can’t cram decades into 3 hours, you set yourself up for failure attempting it. 

[old sanuk 351]

I read somewhere the first cut is over 4 hours, while the release cut is 2 hours, 38 minutes. So instead of editing, shortening, honing, and improving the script, I saw a 4 hour story script filmed that was chopped up in the editing room, resulting in abrupt rushed transitions, compressed time and absent character motivation development. I was confused with the Milan to New York to Milan locations’ transitions, especially interiors (where are they now?)…but Maurizio’s escape motorcycle ride seemed needlessly lengthy, for example. Most individual scenes are great, but the continuity is sub-par; another example of filming wrap date to release date being too short to fix the script in the editing room, if it was even possible.

Concluding, I found the compressed editing really bad, the worst, but the acting ensemble is superb.  A flawed film, but I hope Gaga wins the Oscar; she is very, very good in her role.

[djBuffoon 12,025]

1 hour ago, AnnaNicoleSmith said:

I thought Gaga didn't disappoint, she was good in the movie, I'm not gonna say great but she was good and she's only starting so she's about to become great if she keeps doing this. 

I felt the same way. Very solid performance, she's clearly working her ass off, great physicality and command of the screen, but her line delivery stumbles a bit at times. Granted, the disjointed storytelling of the film did her character arc no favors either.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, djBuffoon said:

I felt the same way. Very solid performance, she's clearly working her ass off, great physicality and command of the screen, but her line delivery stumbles a bit at times. Granted, the disjointed storytelling of the film did her character arc no favors either.

I thought Adam Driver was so bland sometimes that she couldn't really work with anything. He seemed very detached in the film, I didn't like his acting, made no effort with the accent either. I liked that she could sound and look menacing, and also devastated at the same time. The voicemails she left were pure gold, and so so so good. If she was in a movie that was well edited, well written, her acting would look even better. But I agree, at times she wasn't groundbreaking, and she sometimes looked like a beginner but it's what she is! And for a beginner it's good

[Siena 5,854]

I totally agree with your take  I think it speaks volumes that the movie itself has some noticeable issues, yet Gaga's performance is so great that it almost makes up for some of the issues, or for me at least.

[djBuffoon 12,025]

9 minutes ago, AnnaNicoleSmith said:

I thought Adam Driver was so bland sometimes that she couldn't really work with anything. He seemed very detached in the film, I didn't like his acting, made no effort with the accent either. I liked that she could sound and look menacing, and also devastated at the same time. The voicemails she left were pure gold, and so so so good. If she was in a movie that was well edited, well written, her acting would look even better. But I agree, at times she wasn't groundbreaking, and she sometimes looked like a beginner but it's what she is! And for a beginner it's good

She's getting there, she grows with each project. The fact that she seems dedicated to honing her craft and working with top-notch filmmakers and actors will get her far, and it certainly helps that she doesn't need to accept every offer that comes her way. 

[Cavadour 2,024]

I loved it. Rise and fall of the Gucci dynasty and business. Story well put in images by Sir Ridley. To me (my mother was italian and I travelled many times in Italy), the general mood is there and felt authentic enough. I was not disturbed by accents, though Gaga's and Jared's are the best. I was also blown away by the preformances of these two. I'd say Jared has the most italian-like ott attitude of them all. What an actor. Gaga is great, conveying from the sizzling happiness of early years to the dark brood of later moments. Her attitude, body language, hair and costume change are really reflecting that evolution. Her eyes expressivity and hand gestures are on point too. To me, most of the time, Patrizia is there. I could forget LG behind her. Perfect immersion. Great to see Adam smile. Pacino and Jeremy did the job.

Contrary to popular opinion, I didn't feel the movie was too long or getting rythm discrepancies in the story flow. I think it is perfect. I was hooked all along. The ending sliced through the air like a guillotine. Justice was done.

All in all, I'll leave the nitpicking to hairsplitting maniacs. There'll always be some of these anyway. Patrizia should be proud. OK, she's an extreme fu©king murderer but at least, when the movie ends, we can't but empathize for what she's lost, and the way she was rejected. Quite rightly, she was never considered as part of the family. But despite her schemer ways, she was right after all : the Guccis were a dying breed of oldskool excentric fashionistas, who had lost any vision on how to prolong their business life. Now they're all gone and only their name remains. Almost as famous as the one of the common rogue who precipitated the fall of their empire, Patrizia Reggiani.

In 2016, when journalists asked her why she contracted a killer and didn't shoot Maurizio herself, she answered : «I have bad sight. I was afraid to miss him». Priceless !