FROM THE BACK OF THE BOX:
A chronicle of Donatella Versace’s triumph over tragedy by carrying on her brother’s powerful legacy after his 1997 slaying.
FROM THE BACK OF MY BRAIN:
“House of Versace” is a look at how Donatella Versace saved her murdered brother’s company and got off smack. The problem is she was also a walking caricature that didn’t seem to exist in our reality. There’s a pretty strong cast at play, but again it’s Gina Gershon overacting in a performance based on a wax figure come to life. Seriously, I can’t begin to describe how much of an inane monster Donatella Versace was in the last decade or so. Hell, Maya Rudolph’s impersonation was an attempt to make her look normal.
I’m not exactly sure what Gina Gershon is doing here. She wants to bring pathos and weight to someone that most average Americans would never know anything about. But, she also wants to play up the weird aspects of the woman’s personality. Can you play the weirdo and play the nuanced individual? Unfortunately, you can’t and create something that will stand the test of time. Fortunately, this was a TV movie created for the Lifetime Network. Seeing the lack of standards at the new home of “Project Runaway”, no one cared and they scheduled this bitch in between airings of whatever the hell they show now. Hell, I didn’t watch Lifetime for years until the “Flowers in the Attic” adaptation. We all know that I feel that they dropped the ball on that one.
The DVD comes with no special features. The A/V Quality is as best as can be expected for standard definition. The Dolby 2.0 track is pretty flat. Plus, the standard definition transfer doesn’t have much to do. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.
RELEASE DATE: 02/04/2014