Will ‘House of Gucci’ fetch Lady Gaga a second Oscar? That’s the begging question critics are sculpting in their released reviews to the Ridley Scott directed crime/drama film about the Gucci family.
In ‘House of Gucci’, Gaga plays Patrizia Reggiani, the infamous ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, who orchestrated his killing in 1995. Gaga’s turn as Patrizia has sprinkled a second Oscar buzz for her acting career and won’t come as surprise if she takes the golden boy home come next year March 27.
Read below for the critics’ reviews praising Gaga’s electric performance.
The Hollywood Reporter – David Rooney
”In a performance more often than not dialed up to 110, Gaga puts on a transfixing show, bringing fierce charisma and ferocious drive to Patrizia, an accountant at her family’s trucking company who married Maurizio Gucci in 1972 and had him gunned down by a hitman in 1995. Even when she’s just lighting a cigarette or stirring an espresso, Gaga hurls herself into the character with savage gusto. Whenever she’s onscreen, the movie bristles with electricity”.
Variety – Owen Gleiberman
”Maybe so, but Lady Gaga imbues her with a doleful sincerity. Gaga’s face is avid and open, with a fervor that volts through her eyes; she has a born actress’ gift for letting you read her emotions while holding a nugget of mystery in check. As Gaga plays Patrizia, she acts out how it’s possible to set your sights on someone wealthy and fall in love with him. Their courtship has a lusty imploring affection”.
The Guardian – Peter Bradshaw
”Ridley Scott’s fantastically rackety, messy soap opera about the fall of the house of Gucci is rescued from pure silliness by Lady Gaga’s glorious performance as Patrizia Reggiani, the enraged ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, grandson of the fashion-house founder Guccio Gucci. She singlehandedly delivers the movie from any issues about Italian face casting: only she can get away with speaking English with the comedy foreign-a accent-a. Every time Gaga comes on screen, you just can’t help grinning at her sly elegance, mischief and performance-IQ, channelling Gina Lollobrigida Claudia Cardinale in their early-50s gamine styles”.
Deadline – Pete Hammond
”Lady Gaga sinks her teeth wholeheartedly into Patrizia’s world, subtly registering her climb into the center of the action. With a thick accent that could be mistaken for Russian but actually is pure Patrizia, Gaga proves A Star Is Born was just a warmup and completely resists any inclination to turn this woman into a caricature”.
IndieWire – David Ehrlich
”Like so many of the people in it, “House of Gucci” is determined to be serious in the face of farcical ambition. Confirming that she’s one of the most hypnotically self-possessed actors on the planet, Lady Gaga plays the already ridiculous Patrizia Reggiani as a caricature of a caricature. The result is a singular double-negative of a performance that gradually humanizes a social-climbing succubus as she tumbles back down towards hell; the film around her might stiffen down its morbid final stretch, but Gaga seems to gain even more control over herself as Patrizia spirals towards murder”.
Despite the ravishing reviews pouring out for the colourful cast with Gaga in the lead, ‘House of Gucci’ is boxed as scattered with too many events happening just to give room for each character to deliver a line or two (the cost of casting too many A-listers in one material). It scores 65% on Rotten Tomatoes.
