Reviews of the film “House of Gucci”: Lady Gaga is “electrifying”

Critics say kudos to singer-actress Lady Gaga for her performance in Ridley Scott’s new “House of Gucci”.

Flashy family drama about the scandalous collapse of her titular fashion empire stars artist “Chromatica” as Patrizia Reggiani, the real Italian socialite who was convicted in 1997 for plotting the murder of her ex -husband. Her former lover, business mogul Maurizio Gucci, is played in the Adam Driver film.

Reviews of “House of Gucci,” which opened in theaters Wednesday, were generally lukewarm, hitting a mediocre 63% on Rotten Tomatoes, the review aggregator site. But even some of the most critical agree: Gaga is “transfixing,” “coldly electrifying,” and “to watch wildly” as the film’s vengeful femme fatale.

“As in her previous unfortunate Cinderella story, ‘A Star Is Born,’ Lady Gaga temporarily dons a working class shell, downplaying her natural magnetism in order to maximize it,” writes Times film critic Justin Chang.

“Before long, Patrizia revealed herself for what she is: an avatar of ambition and, like Gaga herself, a designer delight, born to wear the silver sequined evening dresses and sets after. -ski in fur imagined for her by costume designer Janty Yates. . “

Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons and Salma Hayek are also part of the star cast of the Oscar-winning period piece, but Chang claims that “no one in ‘House of Gucci’ … ultimately can fight the force of nature. who is Lady Gaga.

“In a movie that reveled in its own counterfeit charms, she really is the real deal,” he writes.

Here’s what others had to say about the Oscar-winning, Grammy-winning “opera” performance “all the way” as Patrizia Reggiani.

New York Times

“About these Gucci. Have you heard of ham? Well that’s a family size salumi platter ”, writes AO Scott. “Adam Driver is relatively sober as Maurizio, who, as a law student, meets Patrizia Reggiani at a party, where she charmingly mistakes him for a bartender. She comes from a less enthusiastic family – her father owns a small trucking business – and she is played by Lady Gaga with the verve of an Anna Magnani avatar in a Super Mario video game.

Weekly entertainment

“Under the Ferrari red snow suits and the wild wig, [Gaga] vibrates with an intensity that often replaces the silliest bits, every hand and every espresso cup hits a different brick in a highly GIF set, ” writes Leah Greenblatt. “It’s clear that she’s playing for her life, although it’s less obvious that she’s in the same movie as her co-stars.”

IndieWire

“Confirming that she is one of the most hypnotic actresses on the planet, Lady Gaga plays the already ridiculous Patrizia Reggiani like a caricature of a caricature.” writes David Ehrlich.

“The result is a singular double negative of a performance that progressively humanizes a rising succubus as she falls back to hell; the movie around her might harden its morbid home stretch, but Gaga seems to gain even more control over herself as Patrizia heads for murder.

Variety

“Gaga’s face is greedy and open, with a fervor rising through her eyes; she has the gift of an actress born to let you read her emotions while keeping a nugget of mystery in check ”, writes Owen Gleiberman.

As Gaga plays Patrizia, she explains how it is possible to set your sights on someone rich and fall in love with them. Their heart has a vigorous imploring affection.

hollywood reporter

Next to the inevitably fabulous period costume and production design, the highlight is Gaga’s performance at the bottom, even – or maybe mostly – when she transforms into Steven Van Zandt on ‘The Sopranos “while ordering a hit on her ex-husband”, writes David Rooney.

In a performance most often composed until 110, Gaga puts on a gripping spectacle, bringing fierce charisma and fierce motivation to Patrizia, an accountant at her family’s trucking company who married Maurizio Gucci in 1972 and l got shot by a hitman in 1995. Even when she’s just lighting a cigarette or stirring an espresso, Gaga throws herself into the character with savage gusto. screen, the film bristles with electricity.

Slate

“Gaga, who has long been a world-class scholar in the service of obscenities, gets her character’s costumes talking as her style evolves from the swinging ’60s office sexpot – one character compares her, from the start, to Elizabeth Taylor. , who she often wears makeup to look like – the ’80s boss, with a golden snake choker and voluminous, puffy black hair, ” writes Dana Stevens.

“Gaga’s performance and self-presentation are, in the best sense of the word, opera.”

Vulture

“Gucci is a brand built on an air of carefully concocted tasteful luxury, but House of Gucci is a film that sees itself primarily as high-end trash,” writes Alison Willmore.

“No one on screen has a better understanding of this than Lady Gaga. … There is a touch of Nomi Malone in Gaga’s performance, which is fueled by a barely disguised voracity, a desire to eat the world in one determined bite.… Gaga is extremely watchable in the role, wide but without a blink, an absolute scream, and the movie only really makes sense when it comes to her.

Vox

“[A]At the center of it all is Patrizia de Gaga, whom Maurizio declares to be Elizabeth Taylor’s lookalike. (You can kind of see his point of view.) ”, writes Alissa Wilkinson.

“She plots, she cries, she makes decisions that Maurizio is too weak to make on his own. She calls a psychic on television and becomes her best friend. She strokes Paolo’s ego and stabs him in the back. Gaga climbs into the shoes of – if not the real Patrizia – a fantastical approximation that smokes like a fireplace, squints her eyes until you expect lasers to fire and turns every scene she appears in into a grand showcase and glorious. His hand gestures alone deserve careful reading. She is Lady Macbeth as a diva, sweetheart and dancing queen.