‘The Humans’, ‘House of Gucci’ teeming with family feuds in time for the holidaysExBulletin

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Thanksgiving is a time of family togetherness and sometimes family feuds. Critic Bob Mondello says there are many of these in two new films – “The Humans,” a modestly produced play, and “House Of Gucci,” an extravagant look at a fashion dynasty.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: At the start of “House Of Gucci” there’s a 1970s costume party where Patrizia, played by Lady Gaga, first sees Maurizio, played by Adam Driver. She ruins the party. He’s standing right there, being a Gucci. Then she hears his last name, blinks and unleashes all the force on him, not of a clever party girl in the making, but of Lady Gaga. And he’s toast. After a fitting or two, it’s a Gucci.

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “GUCCI’S HOUSE”)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR # 1: (As character) You have chosen a real firecracker.

ADAM DRIVER: (Like Maurizio Gucci) It’s a handful.

MONDELLO: The Gucci family have never been lucky, at least as things are depicted in the overheated episode of the Italian dynasty that Ridley Scott made of their history.

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “GUCCI’S HOUSE”)

LADY GAGA: (as Patrizia Reggiani) It’s time to take out the trash.

PILOT: (Like Maurizio Gucci) Patrizia, they’re my family.

MONDELLO: Maurizio’s father Rodolfo Gucci, played by Jeremy Irons, opposes his son’s marriage and quickly disappears from the film. Uncle Aldo Gucci, played by Al Pacino, tries to outsmart Patrizia de Gaga and ends up in jail. Adam Driver’s Maurizio …

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “GUCCI’S HOUSE”)

LADY GAGA: (as Patrizia Reggiani) Don’t be a jerk.

DRIVER: (Like Maurizio Gucci) Don’t call me a jerk, honey.

Mondello: … shouldn’t have been this chance. And weak cousin Paolo Gucci – bald, paunchy, middle-aged and played by Jared Leto, who is none of that until he’s made unrecognizable by prosthetics – stumbles for a moment trying to surpass Gaga’s accent.

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “GUCCI’S HOUSE”)

JARED LETO: (Like Paolo Gucci) Nobody ever told me that. Anybody.

MONDELLO: It was in response to what she told him he had a gift in a scene where I briefly found myself imagining I was watching Madeline Kahn and Gene Wilder, directed by Mel Brooks.

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “GUCCI’S HOUSE”)

LADY GAGA: (like Patrizia Reggiani) Paolo, why don’t you have your own line?

LETO: (Like Paolo Gucci) These are just models.

LADY GAGA: (as Patrizia Reggiani) Are you kidding? Gucci needs new blood. Goodbye the 30’s, hello the 80’s. Huh?

LETO: (Like Paolo Gucci) You got the words out of me (ph).

MONDELLO: A completely ridiculous “House Of Gucci” could have been a hoot. This one, even if he certainly has his moments, can’t decide if he wants to be campy …

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “GUCCI’S HOUSE”)

LADY GAGA: (as Patrizia Reggiani) Father, son and house of Gucci.

MONDELLO: … Or a hit melodrama and is content to be both an hour and a half too long – a cannoli stuffed with a family saga.

I guess you could say that Stephen Karam’s “The Humans” is about Blake’s house, although it’s rather grander than the Scranton Blakes.

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “HUMANS”)

JAYNE HOUDYSHELL: (as Deirdre Blake) Your toilet seat is broken.

BEANIE FELDSTEIN: (Like Brigid) I know. I go down.

HOUDYSHELL: (as Deirdre Blake) I love you. I say it like that.

MONDELLO: In a New York apartment that their daughter Brigid and her boyfriend have just moved into, their few pieces of furniture surrounded by exposed pipes, blistered paint, and windows that barely emit light, they’ve reunited for the ‘Thanksgiving from the Blake family.

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “HUMANS”)

HOUDYSHELL: (Like Deirdre Blake) This is a very special edition of the Blake family’s Thanksgiving Chinatown.

AMY SCHUMER: (Like Aimee) Listen, listen.

RICHARD JENKINS: (Like Erik Blake) Ah, that’s what matters.

MONDELLO: Richard Jenkins as a dad sets the tone.

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “HUMANS”)

JENKINS: (Like Erik Blake) But at the end of the day, whatever anyone has, no matter who you are, one day it just goes away.

HOUDYSHELL: (Like Deirdre Blake) Well that’s a positive way to look at it.

(TO LAUGH)

SCHUMER: (Like Aimee) You should do this at a funeral, dad.

MONDELLO: On Broadway, where Karam’s play won a Tony Award and was shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize, there was beautiful directing vanity. The whole thing was a two story cross section of a Chinatown apartment that was practically a character in itself – loud noises coming from upstairs, the rumble of trash compactors, the occasional cockroach.

(sound clip of screaming)

MONDELLO: It was almost like a set for a horror movie.

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “HUMANS”)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR # 2: (As character) I had nothing to stand on. Someone gives me …

(DIAPHONIC)

MONDELLO: On screen where Karam is making one of the most assured directorial debuts in ages, he’s kept the apartment front and center, making us listen to the characters as the camera wanders around. hallways or light appears filtering through windows that appear to have been the last washed in the Nixon administration.

(EXCERPT FROM THE FILM, “HUMANS”)

HOUDYSHELL: (Like Deirdre Blake) I wish you had more opinion.

FELDSTEIN: (like Brigid) Mom, it’s an inner courtyard.

HOUDYSHELL: (as Deirdre Blake) Oh. Well, maybe we can all take a walk in the inner courtyard after dinner.

MONDELLO: The environment is so authentic that it only demands performance, and it does not disappoint. Jayne Houdyshell’s Salt-of-the-Earth Mother is the only remnant of Broadway, and she’s breathtaking. Just watch her face as she chooses a pastry after someone makes a crack on her weight. Beanie Feldstein and Amy Schumer as girls – they’re all great. Not a silly accent or flashy line read or quick throwback anywhere in “The Humans” – just down to earth and the rich heartwarming warmth of humanity. I am Bob Mondello.

(MUSIC EXTRACT)

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