Catch ‘C’mon C’mon’ and ‘The Humans’; skip ‘Gucci’

The holiday movie season is off and running, with the new Disney family offering “Encanto” and “House of Gucci,” starring Lady Gaga, hitting theaters.

Here’s a roundup.

“HOUSE OF GUCCI” >> The first 30 minutes of Ridley Scott’s messy epic depicting the fall of the Gucci fashion empire is tailor-made for its biggerthan-life cast, particularly Lady Gaga. The “A Star Is Born” actor owns the screen the instant she struts on in wearing a tight skirt and sporting a big ’do while slinging around a cockamamie Italian accent. She goes way over the top, channeling a Jackie Collins heroine to portray Patrizia Reggiani, an Italian of meager means who gloms on to the dweeby but handsome Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), an heir apparent to his family’s fashion dynasty if he can stop peeving off daddy (Jeremy Irons, seriously miscast). There’s a meet-cute scene between Patrizia and Maurizio that leads to a frenzied sex scene and then a meet-and-greet with kooky members of the family. All good. Then it becomes a gasp-inducing mess with characters turning into jerks without any notice and scenes that border on the laughable. The dreary look of the film doesn’t help either. Al Pacino pops in to do his shtick as Maurizio’s uncle Aldo and he’s OK. The worst performance belongs to Jared Leto, unidentifiable as Aldo’s talentless son Paolo. Leto resorts to an Italian caricature that is offensive and stops the film in its tracks.

While some salacious details and intriguing characters emerge here, including Salma Hayek as a psychic chum that Patrizia leans on, “Gucci” just grows more muddled and uncertain about what it wants to be. Is it a trashy guilty pleasure? A cautionary tale about the dangers of greed and blind ambition? Who knows? By the time, it reaches its labored and inept finale, “House of Gucci” has long since succumbed to its hammy, disjointed family theatrics and clumsy tonal shifts. Gaga and Driver deserve better. This would have made such a better streaming series. As is, it’s an overstuffed turkey. DETAILS >> ★ stars out of 4; now in theaters.

“C’MON C’MON” >> Berkeley native Mike Mills’ latest in a string of beloved family dramas is a metaphysical embrace. It’s about a radio journalist (Joaquin Phoenix, exposing his vulnerable side) tending to a precocious nephew (Woody Norman, in one of the best child performances you’ll ever see) while his sister (Gaby Hoffmann) travels to Oakland to care for the boy’s troubled dad (Scoot McNairy). After wringing out your handkerchief, you’ll want to call and make amends with someone in your life. It’s an ideal film for Thanksgiving, filled with sensitive observations on human connections and human frailties.

DETAILS >> ★★★★; now in theaters.

“THE HUMANS” >> Whereas “Gucci” flip-flops all over the melodramatic map, playwright Stephen Karam’s adaptation of his own Tony-winning drama keeps everything focused, steady and steely. Set entirely around one pressurecooker of a Thanksgiving family dinner in a weathered, barely furnished Manhattan apartment, it dishes out extra helpings of family disharmony and dysfunction. Karam’s play/ screenplay sets a claustrophobic, ominous tone that helps escalate tensions as the Blake family members (played to the hilt by Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, Amy Schumer, June Squibb) gather round a meager table set by daughter Brigid (Beanie Feldstein) and her boyfriend Richard (Steven Yeun). As the night stretches on, we discover why these characters act in such strange ways. It’s hardly chipper, but it is beautifully scripted, sharply acted — notably by Houdyshell as the mom — and will remain stained on the brain as if it were red wine spilled on a white tablecloth.

DETAILS >> ★★★; now in theaters.

“THE UNFORGIVABLE” >> Sandra Bullock gives a toughas-leather performance as Ruth, a woman just out of prison, in Nora Fingscheidt’s gritty character study/thriller. Adapted from a British limited series, “Unforgivable” doesn’t sugarcoat Ruth or her relentless search for a younger sister (Aisling Franciosi). “Unforgivable” is at its best when it shows how Ruth is struggling to get a foothold in a world that doesn’t want her in it. She works two jobs, gets beaten up and catches the unsavory interest of unsavory characters. A later plot development feels too contrived, but the performances both major and minor make up it. Impressive are Jon Bernthal as Ruth’s co-worker and Viola Davis and Vincent D’Onofrio as the new homeowners where Ruth’s crime took place. Most of all, “Unforgivable” reminds us what a fine actor Bullock is.

DETAILS: >> ★★★; now in select theaters; available Dec. 10 on Netflix.