I added this onto my watchlist purely because of Ridley Scott’s name and because the subject matter seemed promising. But I really should have heeded the atrocious reviews because this film is so mediocre I wondered why Scott wanted to take this project on. This isn’t about fashion or even the world of luxury goods at all but rather is about a feud within the Gucci family that would eventually lead to the murder of Maurizio Gucci in 1995. The characters are businesspeople not artists or craftsmen and it’s not even a particularly serious depiction of business. Lady Gaga gives her all to her role as Patrizia Reggiani but everyone just seems to be going through the motions. Since everyone doesn’t seem much bothered, I don’t see why the audience should either.

Maurizio Gucci is studying law and has no real interest in his family’s business when he meets Patrizia Reggiani at a party. Patrizia’s family is middle class but she immediately recognizes his family name and aggressively pursues him. Eventually he gives in and decides to marry her, against the objections of his father Rodolfo who warns him that she is a gold digger. Maurizio goes to work for Patrizia’s father for a while as his father has cut him off. When they have a daughter together, Patrizia uses the opportunity to reconnect to the Gucci family through Rodolfo’s brother Aldo. Also is more than happy to welcome both of them to his side of the family as he considers his own son, Paolo, an aspiring fashion designer, to be incompetent. Aldo gives Maurizio a job helping to run his stores in the US and Rodolfo also reconciles with the couple just before he dies. Yet this isn’t enough for Patrizia as she wants it all and plots gain full control of Gucci, consulting with psychic Giuseppina Auriemma to help her.

I knew nothing about the Gucci family saga going in but I was expecting at least something about traditional leather craftsmen or fashion design. It turns out though that by the time of this film, the Gucci family members have long grown out of doing the physical labor themselves and are bosses. We do get a visit to Aldo’s farm where we see the cows farmed for leather and some of his workers but that’s it. Paolo is passionate about designing clothes but everyone else mocks him for how terrible his designs are. We could consider that this is about businessmen and entrepreneurs, but that description fits neither Maurizio nor Patrizia. Maurizio seems indifferent to the actual business itself though he later learns to enjoy the luxurious lifestyle his position enables. Patrizia seems mostly driven by wanting the prestige and power of being at the top of the food chain. So this is really a family feud drama with a little murder as the climax as there’s no point in hiding spoilers. In the end, this is like a very watered down version of Godfather or something, especially with its Italian setting.

This might have been a passable film even so if more effort had gone into the psychological development of the characters but there’s little to go on here. Patrizia is the only character who has any depth and Lady Gaga is the only performer here who seems to be trying. Adam Driver is usually really good but his Maurizio is a black box. Scott likes to return to the imagery of him, for all his wealth, riding a bicycle by himself through the streets of Milan but who knows what that is meant to be saying about his character. I suspect that Scott doesn’t know either. The result is a rather bland take on the Gucci family which isn’t even that fascinating a subject matter if you separate it out from the context of the luxury goods industry and the elite families of Italy.

I don’t know why Scott chose to seek out this project as he doesn’t seem to have any affinity for the subject or the milieu. It feels like a bad match-up all around. The descendants of the Gucci family were understandably upset at this portrayal of their history while the Gucci company itself as it exists today offered its cooperation. The dynamics there would make for another interesting story but that too isn’t part of this film. In the end, the critics’ reviews for this were on point: it’s mediocre work so stay away.