The trailers for this sold people on a movie with a completely different tone than what we got in the final product. They led me to believe that this would be a high energy black comedy, kind of like Wolf of Wall Street. And I think the movie would've been much better if it decided to go down this path. Some might argue doing this would've been disrespectful to the real people that these events have occurred to like with Pain & Gain. I can understand this sentiment but I enjoyed Pain & Gain quite a lot as trashy and offensive as it was at times. It made me wish that someone else directed this. Maybe not Michael Bay even though it would've been very entertaining if he did. Someone like Martin Scorcese would've been perfect for this, this is the kind of movie he can make in his sleep. His high energy style is what this movie needed as Ridley Scott just makes it feel too serious and lethargic. That style is perfect for something like The Last Duel but not for a story with a cast of colorful characters scheming and plotting.
Another gripe of mine is the cinematography by Dariusz Wolski. I'm getting tired of his washed out , bleak style of shooting movies. That style worked great in the Last Duel or even in All The Money in the World or Alien Covenant but a movie set in the fashion world needed more swagger and vibrancy. The cinematography looks so cold that it doesn't gel at all with the energetic pop songs that this film utilizes at every turn. The songs feel forced and none of them feel like they belong or add energy to the scenes. Once again, if Scorcese made this movie and he had the same songs to work with, I bet he would find the perfect use for them to enhance scenes.
Now, it's not all bad as the story was entertaining and I didn't really know where it was headed but unfortunately a lot of it felt rushed, especially towards the end. The film lacks focus as it can't decide which plot it wants to concentrate on, it's kind of all over the place. On the other hand, the acting is great across the board apart from the dreadful accents. Once again, the Last Duel did this perfectly with English standing in for French without the actors doing any accents. I prefer actors skipping accents altogether like Sean Connery in the Hunt for Red October to them speaking English with an accent. However, this aspect doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the movie especially with Jared Leto doing a very comical over-the-top Italian accent which will go down in history of cinema as one of the worst accents ever. Some are criticizing him but I loved Jared in this movie. His campy style of acting is exactly what the movie needed more of to make it more of a dark comedy. Gaga, Pacino, Driver and all the rest are really good but he was the real standout for me. Overall, House of Gucci is rather decent and entertaining for the most part but it missed many opportunities that could've made it a highly entertaining, energetic dark comedy that it needed to be.
Another gripe of mine is the cinematography by Dariusz Wolski. I'm getting tired of his washed out , bleak style of shooting movies. That style worked great in the Last Duel or even in All The Money in the World or Alien Covenant but a movie set in the fashion world needed more swagger and vibrancy. The cinematography looks so cold that it doesn't gel at all with the energetic pop songs that this film utilizes at every turn. The songs feel forced and none of them feel like they belong or add energy to the scenes. Once again, if Scorcese made this movie and he had the same songs to work with, I bet he would find the perfect use for them to enhance scenes.
Now, it's not all bad as the story was entertaining and I didn't really know where it was headed but unfortunately a lot of it felt rushed, especially towards the end. The film lacks focus as it can't decide which plot it wants to concentrate on, it's kind of all over the place. On the other hand, the acting is great across the board apart from the dreadful accents. Once again, the Last Duel did this perfectly with English standing in for French without the actors doing any accents. I prefer actors skipping accents altogether like Sean Connery in the Hunt for Red October to them speaking English with an accent. However, this aspect doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the movie especially with Jared Leto doing a very comical over-the-top Italian accent which will go down in history of cinema as one of the worst accents ever. Some are criticizing him but I loved Jared in this movie. His campy style of acting is exactly what the movie needed more of to make it more of a dark comedy. Gaga, Pacino, Driver and all the rest are really good but he was the real standout for me. Overall, House of Gucci is rather decent and entertaining for the most part but it missed many opportunities that could've made it a highly entertaining, energetic dark comedy that it needed to be.