Rating: 
Summary: Not for 14 year old boys?
Review: While taking all those guided tours through cavernous estate houses in England and Ireland (and even a few on the north shore of Long Island), I always wondered what it was like to live that lifestyle. But of course, walking around those still houses doesn't really tell you about the people who lived there anymore than a stage tells you about its actors. However, Gosford Park was a great way to fill in those blanks. The way it pulls you into the world of 1930's English high society and all its pretense and hypocrisy is great. This movie definitely enlivened my understanding of class in old European societies. The reason Gosford Park has such great insight is the film's screenwriter, Julian Fellows who himself grew up as part of the English aristocracy. Much of what makes this film fun is the idiosyncrasies of its characters and their world that Fellows has personal experience with. A maid and driver stand in the pouring rain until their mistress gets in the car. Servants only refer to each other by their master's name, and they maintain the same hierarchy as their masters so that a duke's servant is treated better by other servants than a baron's. Only married women are allowed to have breakfast in bed; unmarried women must go to the dining room. What a strange world they lived in, especially to someone like me who grew up in a middle class New York neighborhood. The spine of Gosford Park is, without question, NOT the murder mystery. In fact, the murder mystery plot is about 5% of the movie-if that. It's what's known in film lingo as a McGuffin, a device that helps propel the plot in a story but is of little importance in itself. If a viewer turns to the murder mystery plot for what this movie is all about, they will most likely be sorely disappointed, seemingly like many of the negative reviewers here were. The key to enjoying this movie is to think about what it's like to live in a society that is extremely oriented by class. What must it take to keep it going? As I alluded earlier, pretense and hypocrisy grease the gears of high society. From scene to scene, we peep around corners and into bedrooms to see characters trying to hide one secret or another. And in the end, we see the unpleasant consequences of this duplicity. This is definitely not a film that lays out its purpose before the audience. Since the almost 60 characters (for a chuckle, look under product details above for the colossal cast list) each add something unique to the larger picture, and since the audience is usually only told something once, you definitely have to be your own detective. However, Julian Fellows does a brilliant job interweaving these characters into a solid whole, and he definitely deserves the Oscar he received for the screenplay. Since this is a complex and subtle film, multiple viewings are helpful, but unlike some other reviewers, this is something I really enjoyed. Like a good album, each time with it reveals another layer and increases your appreciation. Robert Altman, the director, says in his DVD commentary (which was boring except for a few insights, but Julian Fellow's commentary was excellent) that the film is "like looking in through the windows of a house, you only get part of the picture at a time." I think this analogy fits nicely, especially since the film is set in a house. Altman also acknowledges what some of the negative reviewers complain about, saying he meant the audience to be left wondering after the first viewing. He didn't intend this movie for the "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" set. In fact, Altman went out of his way to insert curse words, guaranteeing an R rating so that "14 year old boys couldn't walk off the street and watch it." And of course, last but not least, the acting was great. Gosford Park has an excellent ensemble cast with not a single weak link. Maggie Smith as the snobbish Aunt makes you smile; Kelly MacDonald as the Aunt's young, innocent maid makes you want to give her a big wet kiss (maybe that's just me); and Clive Owen's cool restraint as a mysterious footman keeps you following him around the screen. All through, Gosford Park is a movie very well done.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this DVD and watch it again and again....
Review: because you miss most of the film the first time around! On the surface this appears to be a very formulistic murder mystery. It has the classic setting, 1930's period, an isolated English manor house filled with guests for a weekend shooting party, and all of the servants both resident and visiting. Everybody has secrets, the tension is so thick it could be cut with a knife and there is conveniently one missing from the kitchen. For more than half the film we see motives offered and wait for the murder and yet after it occurs it becomes evident that this is NOT a murder mystery at all! The film has been compared to Upstairs Downstairs and it does involve the lives of those both above and below stairs, but it is much more than that. The various stories are added layer by layer some, such as the imposter in the servants' hall are obvious while others like the secret abortion are only alluded in a couple of lines. The various stories are, while interesting, not really the point of the film either. This is a beautifully drawn portrait of a way of life that is long gone and will probably never return. Almost everyone has read about or seen depictions of English Country Life in the '20's and '30's. It is a setting that has been used in drama, comedy, romance and of course mystery genres for years but Gosford Park makes it clear that we have only the faintest ideas of what that life was really like. The genius of this film is that it takes all the information that could have been spread out in a PBS documentary series and used fiction to illustrate the same points in a much more effective and enjoyable way. The cast is huge and filled with actors, both well known and soon to be well known. No one is given such a large role that it becomes their film and yet each performer manages to turn their scenes into a polished little gem. The extras included in the DVD are wonderful. They include deleted scenes (with commentary), features on the making of, and authenticity of the movies as well as Q & A with cast and filmakers. The best of the extras by far are the commentaries with the director, Robert Altman and screenwriter, Julian Oscar. I highly recommend the purchase (as opposed to the renting) of this film. It is so packed with detail that it would be impossible to absorb it all in just one or two viewings.
Rating: 
Summary: If you need a nap, then watch this movie.
Review: I enjoy britcoms. It was so differcult to understand the english dialog in this movie. The accent was just too thick. There was so many subplots going on during the movie. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes for the murder to occur. My friends and I drifted in and out of sleep during the movie. I have never before slept during a movie until I saw this one. Believe me, none of cared who the murderer was. Much less why the character was murdered. If you want to watch a riveting murder mystery, then dont buy this movie. If you have trouble sleeping, then buy this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Good cast,bad storyline
Review: The good news is that the movie had a good cast,the bad news,the story itself.I was upset Helen Mirren wasn't given more time in the movie.When it came to the sex scenes,watered down.The police detective in the movie is even worse than Peter Sellers charcater in the Pink Panther movies.I even had a hard time getting into the story.Only the Cazalets had the best sex scenes and there are other British movies with better storylines.
Rating: 
Summary: RYAN PHILLIPE
Review: this movie would have been ok if ryan phillipe and his horrible attempt at a scottish accent wasn't in it. i hate that guy more than spiders. and i'm a person who really hates spiders. jerk.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome movie, some stupid reviews
Review: An excellent movie, but if you prefer your entertainment free, just read some of the critical reviews here. Among the hilarious claims made by this film's critics: "the accents are impossible to understand" Wakey wakey guys, there's a whole English-speaking world outside the USA (including the countries of most of your ancestors), and surprise surprise, we don't all speak exactly as you do! If you have to, watch the film with subtitles! "the film was dull" I can just imagine these people looking at a Rembrandt painting and calling it dull because the colours aren't bright enough. Haven't any of you ever heard of subtlety? Understatement? or the big one: IRONY? (not the Alanis Morrissette definition either, it's wrong). "[it has a] mundane dispassionate story" Which planet is this person from? How about when Mrs Wilson allows her long-lost son to leave without admitting she knows who he is? If you didn't find that scene charged with emotion then there's really something wrong with you. I recommend that you stick to movies with one-dimensional actors like Tom Cruise - you can tell when his scenes are "passionate" and "dramatic" because he starts shouting. When Cruise stops shouting, you know the "passionate" part is over. "it is incomprehensible when connecting the characters" Complex, certainly - hence the irony when the Detective says "We just want people with some connection to the dead man" as he dismisses a group including the deceased's mistresses and unacknowledged son. For you, I recommend "Anti-Trust", one of the worst movies I've ever seen, in which the entire plot is not only predictable, but explained repeatedly anyway with flashbacks to important scenes etc. Interestingly, that appalling piece of work also includes Ryan Phillippe, though in a much less appropriate role. It was sheer genius in Gosford Park to cast an unconvincing American actor as an unconvincing American actor. "this is supposed to be a murder mystery" If you watched the whole movie and still think it was intended to be a murder mystery then you are a moron, end of story.
Rating:
Summary: The world through the eyes of the majority
Review: At first sight Gosford Park appears to be just another country weekend movie featuring British aristocracy and their hangers on with a murder thrown in. That is not what this is. Beneath the tip of that iceberg of the rich and titled, roars a mighty engine of people working hard, getting little respect, and having lives of equal value, overlooked oppressed, but creators of all there is in this world
My grandmother's friends from church were all women who sometime in their lives had been servants, whether they had become social workers, teachers, or house wives. Inevitably, when they would come over after church, a discussion of "their people" they had worked for as servants would break out. It was always the same thing, of the incapacity of people used to paying people to do things to achieve simple tasks, look at things from common sense, and despite their self-images as beneficent employers how "their people" constantly overloaded them with tasks beyond their job, and had absolutely no concern or knowledge of their needs to take time off for personal or health reasons. Sneaking and listening to them, I heard many rather dramatic things about movers and shakers in our town and the national from these old women. Not much changes. About 15 years ago, a friend who had been a writer and editor for years moved to California. Through an old high school friend, he landed a job working in the home of a very prominent movie star, a job that was supposed to get him set up financially and a job that would end up getting him in touch with people in the movies and the papers that could land him a job or provide contact for his own writing. When, I went to visit him, he had the same kinds of stories and stupidities to tell that those ladies who were friends of my grandmother told. Moreover, no one would bother to talk to him about his writing and editing, because none of the people he would want to know about his work because none of them noticed him because he was a servant.
In a superbly acted movie, with great roles for everyone, we see how this world operates. Altman's brilliance here is that all this is done in a human, compelling, often funny, sometimes gripping manner. On the DVD you will listen to the writer of the film explain how each thing you think may be a wild exaggeration, or some weird exception in the behavior of the upper classes was something he himself saw or heard friends and relatives say or do.
Of course, it is not just the servants in the big houses, but all the working people all around the world whose work is hidden, who needs are abused, who provide the basis for everything and get no recognition. Maybe we ought to change that too. Click on the about me tab above to find many books on Amazon about making THAT change!
Rating: 
Summary: A comedy of sorts
Review: I didn't have high expectations when I got this film, but I enjoy some British drama, so I decided to give it a go. I'll spare you by not going into detail about every element in the film as I'm sure you will be able to work that out yourself if you decide to watch the film. In reply to the previous reviewers, this film is not primarily a detective film, so one shouldn't expect this to be like your classic whodunnit. In fact the murder and it's resolution seem almost secondary. What is the more interesting aspect of the film is it's depiction of the interraction between the English aristocracy and their servants. It is a comedy of sorts as well. You have the dimwitted pipesmoking, Sherlock-Holmes imitating detective who fails to discover any relevant information on the murder, you have your typical American who is constantly on the phone about urgent business and then you have the pretentious 'sods' themselves; the aristocracy. There are a number of subplots within the film, all of which are skillfully tied in toward the end. There aren't many dull moments in this movie as there is always something to be resolved, and so many characters to keep track off. Judging from previous reviews, this movie may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you enjoy drama and aren't put off by lengthy conversations then you might enjoy this film.
Rating:
Summary: It'll draw you in and won't let you go
Review: What I like about this film is its class. It's so brilliantly directed that the flow of the story is never interrupted. It's balanced, it's witty, it's full of mystery and fun. And it never strays to the realm of the over-the-top murder tales that are full of larger-than-life characters and Clue-esque easy answers. And although very unique in many ways, it does have a somewhat basic storyline (which causes its originality to be much more impressive). A hierarchy of British nobility is visiting a couple in their mansion (and their servants are joining them during the "vacation"). The husband of the hosting couple is a vile man with many secrets that too many of the servants know about (like his many sexual adventures with factory women, who would birth children he could care less about). These events from the past start to seep in and stir up in both the upstairs and downstairs of the old mansion and the murder mystery begins, without a prime suspect. The emotional undertone of the "evil man," as we'll call him, and the relationship he has with a certain servant allows the film to be much more than a well-directed, well-written mystery. It's socially conscious and it will have you caring about each and every character in a certain way, which may cause some to have favorites (the cast is large enough to do so). I have not seen a film in recent memory that is so successful at pulling you in and getting you involved with the importance of the story as well as its plot. And this immensely advantageous quality is not only because of Robert Altman's direction, interweaving the various plot lines and characters seamlessly. It is also because of the screenplay. The writing, by Julian Fellows, is intelligent, clever and sometimes down-right funny! It allowed for scenes with many people talking at once to have key moments that you could absorb without the least bit of trouble. You'll know when you need to listen in, and you'll know when a line is meant to be comic relief, or something of that sort. Fellows deserved the Oscar (2001, for best Original Screenplay) completely. Don't forget the actors. The cast is a sprawling who's who of British (and two American) actors. It includes young soon-to-be-thespians such as Ryan Phillipe and Kelly McDonald, and another rising star: Clive Owen. But the film belongs to three women: Maggie Smith, Emily Watson, and, especially, Helen Mirren. All three never cease adding on layers to their characters, one of which could have suffered from being a cardboard cut-out of a person. Smith is hilarious, Watson does some great internal work, and so does Mirren, who has a killer scene toward the end of the film that will have you sobbing. All three were, in a word, amazing. Some may say the film stretches along to the point of causing boredom. But you must understand that most of the film is key to the ending, and you'll be sitting there during the credits proud of yourself for catching on. It's just that involving! And that may be the movie's only real flaw: it is too subtle for certain people to "get." Otherwise, the movie is brilliant, dare I say close to perfect? I do dare. It's just that well-made.
Rating:
Summary: Altman's best film in years
Review: Gosford Park is good fun and worth seeing, but, like most of Robert Altman's movies, you have to take the good with the bad. The whodunit can be solved before the murder ever occurs (ask yourself why actors of such high magnitude are playing such lowly characters); the story is more clever than wry, more cynical than comical; the convoluted plot cursed with quite a few irrelevant characters; and there's an overwhelming air of self-importance to the thing. I likened the Weissman character to Altman himself - the American auteur who decides, for a kick, to dabble in the world of ineffectual British aristocrats. But you can't go wrong with such a stellar cast, all of whom are obviously having a hell of a good time making the film. And the quick jumps and cuts between "upstairs" (the guests) and "downstairs" (the servants) certainly keep the viewer's attention. I didn't even mind the accents, which can be a problem in British films - I didn't understand some of the dialogue, but it's clear from the direction that they aren't saying anything useful anyway! The film does well to take such a huge cast and create notable, memorable characters without spinning wildly out of control, thanks to Altman's skill and the Julian Fellows' taut, sharp screenplay. It's a vast film that takes place in the confines of a very small space.
| 
