Rating: Summary: Surprisingly different Review: This has the look and feel of English "who-done-it". It is as much the society as it is a mystery. The first quarter of the movie is just introductions to the characters as they approach the manor. Then the discussions start as they are settling in and the sub plots show up but do not overwhelm the main story. If you are trying g to guess ahead forget it. Also plan for every English cliché. I suggest that you use the closed caption option the first time through as the mumble a lot and the background music is louder than the speech tract. Don't be surprised to find that it has ended just as you are getting into it. The DVD extras add a dimension to the movie as after watching them you can view the movie with out the sub tittles.
Rating: Summary: Veddy Poor Indeed, Eh What?! Review: I came to this film prepared by the trailer for something on the line of an Agatha Christy mystery. Nothing of the sort happens here. (The trailer HAD to be impactful and forward-moving, even if the movie is not, I realize.) What Gosford IS is Altman taking another tried and true genre, and trying to play it all ironic and sour and dispassionate and the-end-of-narrative-as-we-know-it, ala The Long Goodbye. (Veddy '70s of the old boy, I do declare.)If your interest was piqued by the trailer for Gosford, I can almost guarantee you that this film will disappoint your expectations. If you are the type who like films that take no sides, tell no stories and drift along until they simply cease, then you may like this film. Or you may at least be able to act as if you do. --Which, among circles of people who enjoy talking about film more than watching it, is the entire bailiwick, as it were, no?
Rating: Summary: Gosford Park Review: I loved this movie. All things British interest me, so this was especially fun. It was fun to see that things are not so different above the stairs and below the stairs. Great fun. You do have to lilsten closely to understand the heavy British accents, but worth the trouble.
Rating: Summary: Disappointing Review: I was so disappointed in this picture. I looked forward to seeing it - never got a chance to see it on the big screen - so I couldn't wait for it to come out on DVD. I am such a big fan of British movies, especially mysteries, but there was just something missing from this one. I'm not really sure what it was - the acting was great but story was just OK. I'm sure others liked it better than I did.
Rating: Summary: Watch the grass grow at Gosford Park Review: I saw this film in a movie theatre complex. After about 30 minutes of the incessant, meaningless chit-chat that comprises the whole of this film, people in the theatre began to openly complain -- out loud. "This is boring"..."They should have called this film 'Who cares?'"... Nobody argued with them. I sat fighting off sleep, which kept creeping into my brain during this cinematic sedative. My wife repeated "God, what a bore!" many times. Several people got up and left -- heading for the next room where they were showing "Blackhawk Down". One man who was stuck there with his wife, who wanted to stay, went out and got a newspaper from somewhere and returned and spent the rest of the movie in the first row, backed turned partially toward the screen, and READ THE NEWSPAPER until the film, mercifully, ended. I swear to you this true.
Rating: Summary: Loved this DVD ! Review: I highly recommend "Gosford Park". Its director, Robert Altman, has managed to make an excellent film, full of an english ironic sense of humour that I found (and still find) enchanting. The main plot revolves around a typical murder mistery (the classical Agatha Christie's "whodunnit"), that it is very good in itself. However, I specially liked the way in which Altman used the background, a typical english country house, to show us the dynamics of a class (the aristocracy), in a certain period of time (the 1930s), in a certain place (english countryside). What can happen when a bunch of aristocrats gather together for a shooting party? Well, according to Altman's formula almost everything... The film certainly doesn't lack action, but I believe that what makes it outstanding is how it show us the rigid division among classes in that time (that division still exist now, but they are clearly less patent). One example of that is the upstairs (guests)/downstairs (servants)division of classes. The main plot is very good, and the various subplots are also greatly entertaining. Regarding the performances of the actors, I specially liked Maggie Smith's as Constance (she was perfect!!!). On the whole, worth seeing and buying...
Rating: Summary: Liked it Review: Its a fine line to manage so many different charcters in such a short period of time on film and make anyone stand out, mcuh less a large ensemble stand out. The great part of this film is that what seems like a small tidbit of nothing information actually rockets forward and comes to mean something by the end. The very concept of two worlds existing within one world and the secret relationships that permeate both eventually makes this a strong film. I really liked it this film and heartily recommend it.
Rating: Summary: walkin' n' talkin' done right Review: I see Gosford more as an athletic event than as a movie. I have never seen the physical movement and gesture of the human person shown as beautifully and as subtly as Altman does it here. To me this masterpiece is about movement and how it explains personality and character. Elsie picking up the little dog and handing it off to Sir William in the hall is every bit as impressive as any double play that Chavez and Tejada have ever turned for the A's. (and they turn the most beautiful around the horn double play in baseball.) And Altman gave every character at least one move that I would say was all their own. Maybe the move is just standing there a certain way, like Constance's butler in the first scene did as the car drove away. I've seen it ten times now and the more I see it, the more I see it as a dance. Even though the dialogue was brilliant, I think its purpose was to accent a distinct manner taking place at that moment which is why if some piece of conversation is not heard or followed or understood perfectly, it ain't that big a deal......
Rating: Summary: One Trip To Gosford Park Is Not Enough Review: An old fashion who done it set at an English country estate circa late 1920's. Director Robert Altman has really outdone himself with this classy, classic caper. Using his usual, highly textured, dialogue style, character and plot threads overlap in intricate ways that command the viewer's strict and close attention to everyone and everything. Michael Gambon is the murder victim. Stellar turns from Dame Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas and Helen Miram, among others, make for a fascinating trip to the country. Alliance has done a fair job mastering the DVD. Contrast appears a bit low at times and colors are often muted or seemingly dull, sometimes blending together in dark scenes. Overall, this muted appearance suits the story well. Fine details occasionally shimmer and there is a bit of edge enhancement that crops up now and then but nothing that terribly distracts. Overall, this is a great movie that one can never get tired of watching over and over again, particularly because there are so many Altman subtexts working together throughout the plot at any given time. A definite must have.
Rating: Summary: Well done for an American Review: This was a truly dazzling film. It makes you cry with Elsie and Miss. Wilson, makes you laugh with Lady Trentham, and makes you suspicious with the rest of this superior cast. Gosford Park is a film about a shooting party in the countryside of England with dozens of people visiting the mansion. The owner, Sir William McCordle, has been the objection of hatred by many people and that gives a motive for anyone to kill him. Along with the murder, this film is also about the differences in lifestyle of the workers and of the wealthy. The reason I love Gosford Park is that you can see the movie over and over again and see something new. Also, with a cast of 35 people, you can focus yourself on one character and still love the movie. This movie is a soon-to-be classic in my opinion.
|