On HOUSE OF GUCCI

 You have to give it to Lady Gaga. Look at her evolution as a performer from her pop/rock music days when she wore outlandish costumes to her recent CBS music special in which looked absolutely chic singing standards from the great American songbook with the amazing Tony Bennett. In between, came a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar nomination for her work in the 2018 remake of A STAR IS BORN. She took home an Oscar for co-writing "Shallow," the number in that remake voted Best Song from a 2018 film.

Last week, the New York Film Critics Circle voted Lady Gaga Best Actress for her dramatic performance in director Ridley Scott's HOUSE OF GUCCI. This is a tale of relentless ambition, wealth, family loyalty, family betrayal and death. It's the kind of movie that would've been ripe for director Douglas Sirk to make in the 1950s. In the 50s, Sirk gave us ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, WRITTEN ON THE WIND and a remake of IMITATION OF LIFE. And Sirk could've done it in 2 hours or less. HOUSE OF GUCCI runs 2 hours and 38 minutes.

The film is well-produced and visually appealing. The soundtrack includes cuts by Donna Summer, George Michael, Eurythmics and Andy Williams. A trucking business office scene with Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani and Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci has the most memorable use of the "Libiamo" music from Verdi's LA TRAVIATA since Billy Wilder's THE LOST WEEKEND (1945). Other classical music selections in HOUSE OF GUCCI may get a slight giggle from baby boomer viewers because they're selections we first heard in some classic Bugs Bunny cartoons.

If you saw a recent edition of DATELINE NBC, you know that HOUSE OF GUCCI is about a Gucci knock-off. Maurizio Gucci was shot to death by a hired killer. NBC's prime time show had an edition this month called "Murder in the House of Gucci." Overall, this movie is like that DATELINE NBC show blended with LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS.

Lady Gaga is excellent in her role as the darkly ambitious outsider who marries into the famed Gucci family. She meets shy, unassuming Maurizio at a disco in the 1970s. He compliments her, telling her she looks like Elizabeth Taylor. She replies that she's more fun than Taylor. She's from a working-class family that runs a trucking business. When she realizes who Maurizio is, she's determined to date him. Eventually, they marry in a posh ceremony. No one from the Gucci family attends the wedding.

Maurizio seems to be content with the way things are. However, Patrizia wants more and more and more. She is still the outsider -- and she sees rivalries within the Gucci family. In order to assure herself that she will have wealth and power, she consults with a TV psychic named Pina. Pina is played by Salma Hayek. 

Patrizia seems to be playing a mental game of chess in her Gucci family relationships. One clunky chess piece is the whining, passive-aggressive, balding Paolo, terrifically played by Jared Leto. Paolo is a hot mess. Leto could be on his way to getting another Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for this performance. Also in the film are Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino and Jack Huston. Like director Ridley Scott's ALIEN, THELMA & LOUISE and G.I. JANE, we follow a woman who -- good or bad -- has taken fierce control of her life and journey. Ridley Scott draws a powerful performance out of Lady Gage. Here's a trailer.

As much as I love Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, both in top form in this feature, I do feel the film is stolen by Jared Leto. HOUSE OF GUCCI is about 20 minutes too long, but Leto delivering some totally trash-with-flash dialogue helps to make you not mind the long running time. Here's the barely recognizable Leto as Paolo.

Paolo having lines such as "My bladder may be full but my dreams are even fuller," "Don't even look at me, you lying sack of potatoes," and "I've got to wash, If you could smell between my groins, you'd understand," gave me an urge to send two dozen roses to screenwriters Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna.

Leto and Salma Hayek didn't have scenes together in HOUSE OF GUCCI, nevertheless this isn't the first time they appeared in a film together. There was an acclaimed 1970 indie film crime drama called THE HONEYMOONER KILLERS about a real-life pair of murderers who preyed up lonely single women. Salma Hayek and Jared Leto played the same two killers in the little-seen 2006 detective story, LONELY HEARTS. I recommend seeing it. Leto is very good as the guy who considers himself a smart stud but is controlled by the ultra-sexy and batshit crazy murderess he meets. Salma Hayek sizzles in LONELY HEARTS also starring John Travolta and James Gandolfini as the detectives.