Lady Gaga's True Crime Thriller With An A-List Cast Is A Must-Watch On Netflix

Ridley Scott had a wild 2021. The legendary director came out of lockdown with not one but two movies, both of which were big-budget historical dramas with A-list casts. They were also unbelievably unserious in spots. The first one, "The Last Duel," is a poignant, thrilling epic about the last duel in medieval France, and it examines sexual abuse, power dynamics, and systemic misogyny, all while Ben Affleck talks in a hilariously unconvincing accent and sports a bizarre blonde hairdo. Then, mere months later, Scott followed that up with "House of Gucci."

Now, the latter — a true crime thriller starring Lady Gaga — is nowhere near as good as "The Last Duel." Its themes aren't as strong, its production design is less spectacular, and its acting leaves a lot to be desired. Similarly, the film left both critics and audiences baffled, as just about everyone agreed that it's an unbalanced attempt to do a prestige drama by way of a trashy soap opera. And yet, as /Film's Chris Evangelista wrote in his review, "It's hard not to have fun with everything on display here — all the glitz, all the glam, all the bad accents." Yes, the bit about accents is important, because this movie has some of the wildest, funniest attempts at Italian accents in recent memory. Gaga, for one, seems to be doing a Dracula impression, while Jared Leto's supporting performance is best described as a live-action Waluigi.

"House of Gucci" is a movie that simply must be experienced. Is it good? Not really. Is it a great time? Absolutely. It's also the film that made Scott break his no-sex-scenes rule and features an absurdly long (and borderline hilarious) moment of coitus. Thankfully, the movie's now streaming on Netflix, so you have no excuse not to watch it.

If one had to summarize "House of Gucci" in a single image, it would have to be the Italian "pinched finger" emoji. Scott's movie deals with dark and often nasty subject matter, as you'd expect from a movie about the real-life hit on Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga). And yet, this film is also ridiculously silly, with a script that swerves between tragedy and nonsense.

Then there's the cast. Praise be to the Father, Son, and House of Gucci, because Sir Ridley Scott assembled a brilliant set of actors to do some of the most ludicrous work ever here — which is saying something, considering that Leto went on to star in "Morbius" just a few months after "House of Gucci" hit theaters.

Speaking of which, Leto's performance, in particular, must be singled out, as what he does in this movie goes beyond camp and everyday over-the-top acting to a strange realm where adjectives and criticism fail to do it justice. As Paolo Gucci, the black sheep of the Gucci clan, Leto somehow manages to make his co-star Al Pacino's turn as Aldo Gucci (one of the family's patriarchs) look subdued. In fact, his performance is so out there that Pacino thought Leto was just some "Italian weirdo" when he first encountered him in-character.

"House of Gucci" runs an exorbitant two hours and 37 minutes, which is somehow too long yet not nearly enough time with these delightful weirdos. If you've yet to experience the (mostly) true story of the fall of the Gucci empire, complete with Leto (in a horrendously funny Italian accent) explaining the difference between s**t and chocolate, you owe it to yourself to stream the film on Netflix.