Scott's "House of Gucci": witty or irrelevant?

To the surprise of everyone, the reviews of House of Gucci were mixed. The New York Post's review was one of the worst I've ever read. Johnny Oleksinski, the review's author writes that the film should have been called “How to Make the Assassination of a Famous Person Boring“. Honestly, he isn't that wrong. House of Gucci isn't the top Oscar contender we all hoped for. It's a very long, not very relevant film which tells a story nobody ever asked for.
The art of the biopic or any other film based on true events isn't to tell the story of what really happened accurately. The art lies in turning a real story into art. To make a story interesting, even if the audience isn't interested in the actual story. For example: I couldn't care less about racing – nevertheless, Ron Howard's Rush is an excellent film. I don't care at all about Neil Armstrong's private life - nevertheless, Damien Chazelle's First Man is one of my favourite films. Or another great example: I think nobody cares about calculating a good Baseball game with maths - and still, Bennett Miller's Moneyball is widely regarded as a masterpiece.
And then there's Gucci. I couldn't care less about this brand, the rich family behind it and what happened between them. And the sad thing is, Ridley Scott isn't able to turn this story into something interesting. Throughout the whole film, I wasn't able to identify or at least connect with any of the protagonists. I was often wondering why I was actually watching this, a film which stays so close to the story behind Gucci that it almost feels like a documentary. It stars almost twenty years before the actual assassination the film was originally meant to be about and Scott takes all the time of the world to explain exactly who was against who, who said what at which time, and how the events develop. If you aren't very interested in that, the film could indeed be boring for you.
BUT: Although Scott highlights a lot of events that weren't interesting and weren't pushing the story forward, although he doesn't really know himself why he wants to tell this story, this is still a really good film. By far not a masterpiece, but still a very enjoyable (but still too long) work.
The reason for that is that it's simply an incredibly impressive film. First of all, House of Gucci is HUGE. You can see the budget in every single scene. The sets, the make-up and hairstyling, the costumes and decorations – everything is absolutely astonishing. You have the feeling that Scott is guiding you from one extravagant palace to another. Even if you're not a Gucci fan, the costumes are so perfect, the suits on dresses so well-fitting as you've rarely seen it in a film. The producers didn't hesitate to pay for all kinds of vintage luxury articles, like old Ferraris etc. The make-up is so good that you can't even recognize Jared Leto in any scene. Which brings us to the acting. What goes for the set designs, goes as well for the performances. Every single actress and actor absolutely nailed it. For sure, Lady Gaga is killing it with her interpretation of the new Gucci family member. But the real star of the film is Adam Driver in my eyes. Over the past years, he really had amazing roles, but in this film, he delivers by far his best performance so far. He completely disappears in his role, you forget you're watching Adam Driver act, although his face is so unique. Al Pacino is even better than usual, and Jared Leto.. well, Jared Leto is absolutely stealing the show. I can't even describe what an unbelievably good performance he gave – watching him act simply makes you wonder how anyone can be such a great actor. If Leto doesn't win that Oscar, I don't know.
Although the film isn't really interesting, it's still a pleasure to watch it. You can just loose yourself in great filmmaking. And although it's way too long, the cinematography and editing work together so perfectly that Scott's new film just flows. It's really a majestic and elegant film, a film that gets better the longer I think about it. The Last Duel and House of Gucci have proven that Ridley Scott's career isn't over yet, on the contrary: he might just have reached a certain level of expertise, we can be looking forward to what he's upto next. If he would just have chosen a different story, this could have been a really memorable film.