Director Ridley Scott released two movies in 2021 just over a month apart and between The Last Duel and House of Gucci, the latter is clearly the better of the two. Both films share some striking similarities, including sharing a real-life inspiration for their stories. However, in terms of their overall execution, the Lady Gaga-led true-crime drama is definitively superior the Scott's entertaining but flawed medieval epic.
The Last Duel is based on the true story of France's last legally sanctioned trial by combat and is told from three perspectives, first from Matt Damon's Sir Jean de Carrouges, then from Adam Driver's Jacques Le Gris, and finally from Jodie Comer's Marguerite de Carrouges, after Comer's character accuses Le Gris of sexually assaulting her. The Last Duel earned positive reviews from critics but failed to gain traction at the box office. House of Gucci is similarly based on a true story, albeit one that is a lot more current. The crime drama documents the rise and fall of both Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) and Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), the former of whom is tried and convicted of hiring someone to murder her husband, Maurizio, who has become the head of the Italian fashion house. Reactions to the film praised Gaga's movie star caliber performance in House of Gucci, as well as the rest of the cast's, but some still found the film uneven. In addition to Gaga and Driver, House of Gucci stars Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, and Salma Hayek, all of whom are in or surround the Gucci inner circle, something that could ultimately lead to their downfall.
Despite the fact that both films have their strengths, it's clear that when it comes to House of Gucci and The Last Duel that the former is Scott's better film of 2021. House of Gucci is a sprawling epic, one that feels entirely more cohesive than The Last Duel. Because of its disparate perspectives, when The Last Duel finally gets around to telling Marguerite's story, the message at the core of the film is muddled by the fact that it has put the perspectives of two men ahead of Marguerite's and treats the idea that women should be believed when it comes to accusations of sexual assault as revelatory when it's a baseline necessity. While the intention is noble, the execution ultimately falters.
Additionally, the performances from the casts of both films stand in stark contrast to each other. While the characters in The Last Duel are rife with potential for a deep dive into the politics of 14th century France, both Ben Affleck and Damon's performances come off as stilted and it seems as if they are unsure what to do with the material. Driver and Comer deliver stellar performances, but Marguerite doesn't really get a chance to shine until two-thirds of the way through the film.
The cast of House of Gucci, on the other hand, fully leans into the absurd campiness of the film, for better and worse. It's these gonzo performances (particularly from Gaga and Leto) that elevate an otherwise middle-of-the-road drama to great heights. House of Gucci isn't without its flaws (its two-and-a-half-hour runtime doesn't exactly fly by), but a flawed drama with passion behind it is always better than a by-the-numbers historical retelling that ultimately falls short of delivering the message at the center of the film. Both The Last Duel and House of Gucci deserve praise, but there's a clear winner when it comes to which film is Ridley Scott's better feature of 2021.