House of Gucci (2021) review

Bookish law student Maurizio (Adam Driver) - who is a part of the fabled Gucci family, purveyors of ludicrously expensive merch - gets seduced by parasitic secretary Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), who proceeds to make an unholy jumble out of their lives: uncle Aldo (Al Pacino) goes to jail (for tax fraud!), Paolo (an almost unrecognizable Jared Leto) gets his show shut down (copyright claims!) and then when she finds out her husband is unfaithful ... she has him whacked (for the low price of 600 million lira).  Naturally, members of the Gucci family have spoken out against it - even Tom Ford, who was their creative director for several years, said it made him feel "deeply sad for several days" - but Scott treats it (as best as he's able to) like a bumbling black comedy that loses a lot of its zany energy as it goes along: Gaga's the powerhouse in all this, so when her character drifts out of view so does the movie itself.  It tries covering a lot of material (and even has to omit many details) and it may be a little condescending, but I found most of it to be pleasurably off-beat.  Perhaps the most interesting detail not stated in the movie is that Salma Hayek, who plays a psychic, is married to François-Henri Pinault ... who currently owns Gucci.  Talk about all the money in the world, etc.