Culture

Critics Are Torn On ‘House Of Gucci’ But At Least We Get To See Jared Leto Piss On A Gucci Scarf

"Instantly the most quotable and meme-able movie since 'Borat'."

by Michelle Rennex  11 November 2021
House of Gucci reviews reactions critic

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Just a week after Lady Gaga debuted her truly bonkers accent in the House of Gucci trailer, the first reviews for the much-anticipated biopic have finally dropped — and they’re a truly wild ride.

As soon as the House of Gucci social media embargo lifted on November 9, Twitter was flooded with quick reviews of the crime drama directed by Ridley Scott.

Following the story outlined in Sara Gay Forden’s 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, the film is set in Italy and tells the story of Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) over the span of three decades.

House of Gucci focuses on the events following the 1995 assassination of Patrizia’s ex-husband and the former head of Gucci fashion house, Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) — a crime that she was eventually convicted of.

With supporting roles by Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, Al Pacino, and Jeremy Irons, there were high hopes for the film before its premiere. And for many critics, the early praise was well-deserved.

Talented, Brilliant, Incredible, Amazing, Showstopping, Spectacular, Never The Same, Totally Unique…

If there’s one thing most critics can agree on it is Gaga’s successful pivot from popstar to legitimate actor, which shines bright as ever in House of Gucci.

While Entertainment Weekly reporter Joey Nolfi described the film as “juicy caviar camp [and] an absurdly enjoyable Italian soap opera where Bald Jared Leto pisses on a Gucci scarf”, he pointed out some faults in the film and took the time to praise Gaga’s “earnest, ferocious performance”.

“It ultimately eases on its gas to a fault, but Lady Gaga’s earnest, ferocious performance completes her evolution from movie star to mighty dramatic actréss,” wrote Nolfi.

Rotten Tomatoes critic Erik Davis disagreed with Nolfi’s camp claims and asserted that House of Gucci actually felt “more serious than it is campy” with a “definite Godfather vibe” to it. But both agreed on the “transformative performances” in the film.

“Lady Gaga is incredible, as is Jared Leto, and the story is WILD!” Davis tweeted. “The attention to detail is impeccable.”

Variety’s Artisians Editor Jazz Tangcay also commended the acting in the film, and even claimed that the House of Gucci cast “delivers the best performances of the year” with particular praise for Driver and Gaga’s chemistry.

“House of Gucci is absolutely divine. It’s murderously delicious,” said Tangcay. “The film is a masterclass in acting.”

Clayton Davis, the Awards Editor at Variety, agreed with his colleague, sharing that “Lady Gaga eats every morsel of her role up” and gave additional praise to Jared Leto’s performance too.

“Instantly the most quotable/meme-able movie since Borat,” Davis shared. “Jared Leto’s best since his Oscar win.”

But Not All Reviews Are Gucci

Of course, not everyone was a fan of the bonkers biopic filled with a number of eccentric characters, thick accents, and wild storylines.

We Live Entertainment founder Scott Menzel described the flick as a “bloated and uneven mess that feels like two different movies rolled in one”.

Not praising Gaga’s performance like other critics, Menzel thought that Al Pacino was actually the stand-out star of the biopic.

“Every single cast member acts as though they are in a different movie except for Al Pacino, who seems to have understood the assignment and serves as the film’s MVP,” the critic wrote.

Agreeing with Menzel’s thoughts that Al Pacino was the film’s true star, Observer reporter Brandon Katz added that he felt the movie was “an overwrought slog without any discernible direction” as a result of too many storylines being “stacked on top of one another”.

“Glitzy talented names hamming it up in wealth porn can be fun, but not enough to save the movie from its own messiness,” he tweeted while praising House of Gucci’s “fashionable attention to detail”. “It has no idea what it wants to actually be.”

“Al Pacino gives the best performance, Gaga overdoes it (somewhat by necessity of the role), Jared Leto is acting in an entirely different movie, and Adam Driver seems to understand what movie he’s actually in.”

Similarly, Next Best Picture’s Matt Neglia wasn’t a fan of the “disappointingly mediocre effort from Ridley Scott” which he felt was “lacking in energy, style, and camp”.

Echoing Katz’ opinion that Jared Leto’s “cartoonish” character felt like it belonged in an entirely different film, Neglia shared that House of Gucci “plods through deadly serious drama for 2.5 hours with an even tone”.

But like any film with such mixed reviews, it looks like you’re just going to have to catch House of Gucci yourself to decide where you fall. Or, you could just follow Entertainment Weekly critic Leah Greenblatt’s review that perfectly sums up the truly bonkers energy of the film.

“In many ways, it’s a mess. But the costumes and the camp accents (‘GOOTCH-eeee’) and the pure bonkers Ridley Scott melodrama of it all still felt like a balm for my weary sweatpants soul,” said Greenblatt. “And if Gaga is not strictly Best Actress material, she is still the soul and tiny-espresso-cup spirit of the film.”

House of Gucci premieres in the US on November 24 and hits Australian cinemas on December 26.