House of Gucci is a bold and bloody tale of inheritance and succession told in an often offputtingly campy way.

Though frequently laugh-out-loud funny, the film falls victim to its own internal conceit, hamming up mass produced Italian stereotypes while espousing the merits of quality.

This is most annoyingly obvious in the casting, where all main roles are played by non-Italians who each decide how far they want to descend into ‘Its-a me a-Mario’ territory.

Even in 1978, when the film begins, offensive accents such as Mickey Rooney’s in Breakfast at Tiffany’s were universally derided, but somehow found their way back into fashion in time for Gucci.

Nonetheless, a pitch-perfect performance from Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani, channeling her best Lady Macbeth, rescues the film from complete hopelessness.

Spoilers to follow

In 1978, Patrizia follows her friend to a Milan disco where she runs into dashing, if not slightly awkward, Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver).

Maurizio is the heir to the Gucci fashion empire, only son to co-owner Rodolfo Gucci (Jeremy Irons), who is nearing death.

The family business does not interest him however, and he takes to Patrizia who is far removed from the gaudily fashion world in which he had grown up.

Despite a warning from Rodolfo, Maurizio and Patrizia end up marrying with the proviso he would not be involved in the Gucci company.

Rodolfo clearly sees himself and the Gucci name as royalty, choosing to hitch Patrizia to the ‘gold-digger’ moniker instead of providing his blessing for their nuptials.

Following Rodolfo’s death, his prediction begins to take hold however, as Patrizia assumes the role of calculating consigliere to Maurizio.

She expertly manipulates and pushes the meek Maurizio into submission, ultimately forcing him to implement a hostile takeover of the company which is his birthright.

This sees him cutting ties from uncle Aldo, played by a still sparkling Al Pacino, and cousin Paolo, played by an offensive Jared Leto under many layers of makeup.

Paolo is meant to provide comic relief in the film, as the bumbling eccentric son of Aldo, but he is only funny when on the receiving end of derision.

Memorably he gushes, “Father, I am a river, I need to flow!” to which Aldo replies, “I think it’s time to build a dam.”

Following the family fallout, the cracks in the Gucci marriage unsurprisingly begin to show.

While on holiday in Switzerland, Maurizio seeks comfort outside of his marital bed in the form of childhood friend Paola Franchi (Camille Cottin).

This enrages Patrizia, who feels that she is due credit rather than blame for the way she has engineered her husband’s success.

With the help of ‘spiritual adviser’ Pina (Salma Hayek), Patrizia orders the assassination of her husband, ending the film as the famous ‘Black Widow’ as dubbed by the Italian media.

For what should be the denoument of Gucci, the assassination feels like something of an afterthought after more than 2 hours of runtime.

It is a wasted opportunity and exercise in what could have been a great, edgy true-crime thriller set against the backdrop of generational wealth and style.Without

Gaga, it falls completely flat – but her performance is one that elevates the film beyond its station. For that alone, it is worth seeing, perhaps just close your eyes when she is off screen.

Rated 13 for scenes of Sex, Violence, Language and brief Nudity. More suitable for 16 and over.

3/5.