Rating: 
Summary: star-studded British country estate mystery
Review: "Gosford Park" is one of the few movies that I would enjoy seeing a second time. In fact, it may take two viewings to catch all the visual and verbal nuances of the production. Fans of the PBS series "Upstairs, Downstairs" will enjoy this mystery. We are treated to views of two worlds: The wealthy houseparty guests with their secrets, their world-weariness, and their compromises, contrasted with the herd of servants who tend to their every need, and spend any spare time gossiping about their employers. There's a sweet scene as one of the guests, a well-known entertainer, plays the piano and sings. Most of the guests ignore him, but the servants gather near the doors and windows and stand entranced, swept away by the romantic music. Maggie Smith plays an aging relative who needs money, but who smacks her lips over a good breakfast and still enjoys the sensual side of life. Hers is only one of many excellent performances. "Gosford Park" is a can't miss, especially for the Anglophiles among us. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Some good moments but....
Review: Gosford Park is an interesting movie, it has the Upstairs Downstairs class depictions (though not as well done as the mini-series), good character development and a murder mystery which seems to be incidental to the whole film. Some good performances from all, especially Maggie Smith and Emily Watson, who stood out for me. My whole problem with this movie is that it takes so much time developing characters and setting the scene that the plot suffers as a result. I found the whole movie somewhat static, and it lacked direction and focus. I have never been a fan of Altman's, another director could have done better with this genre. It's a good film, it just cries out for editing.
Rating:
Summary: Quirky but fun
Review: Hmmm...where to begin? Gosford Park is unlike any other film I've ever seen, and I think that's the very reason I like it. The plot, at first glance, seems to be simple enough (in fact, it's oddly reminiscent of a game of 'Clue'): A man invites several guests from all walks of life, unacquainted with each other, to his English country house for the week-end. Everything seems to go along well enough, until the master of the house turns up murdered. That is where Gosford Park's resemblance to your average whodunit stops. In fact, the murder doesn't occur till nearly 2/3 through the film. First, we get the chance to be intimately acquainted with the characters in the house: the upstairs staff, the downstairs staff, the kitchen staff, and the glittery 'upstairs' house-guests whose lives they make possible. The story is told more in hints than in broad statements, which I find refreshing. The screenplay is by the talented Julian Fellowes (you may recognise him as having been the Prince Regent in the 'Sharpe' films) and flows effortlessly and wittily. My favourite character was undoubtedly Dame Maggie Smith's 'Countess Constance' - she's so much of a narcissist it's hilarious to watch. Helen Mirren also does a brilliant job as the housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson. There are so many other stars in this film it would be impossible to list them all in a review: the cast-list reads like a showcase of the best of British talent.
Rating:
Summary: That's five stars for period detail; one star for content
Review: I've never cared greatly for those movies where they assemble a lot of name stars and give them each five minutes of screen time, and we're supposed to be impressed by how brilliant they all are in their cameos. I never became interested in any of these people, with the exception of Jeremy Northam's Ivor Novello, who had a charm that was utterly wasted among these well-draped icycles. Bored and desperate Upstairs or cheeky and snobbish Downstairs, they played to type, and the lesson that the classes were hopelesly intertwined was made clear within the first few minutes. It was not amusing; it was unpleasant, watching people be carelessly brutal to each other for two hours. The point of the murder seemed to be that anyone could have done it (it was easy to figure out who had) and no one cared. Nor did I.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: A wonderful, complex, charming film. I've seen it a dozen times and still catch snippets of conversation that i'd not heard before. Anyone who loves a good murder mystery, a good british film or a just having a good time should see Gosford Park!
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing.
Review: For my money, no director working today knows better what to do with a huge ensemble than Robert Altman. Regrettably, he didn't win the Oscar this year for Best Director which remains a bit of a mystery (pun intended) to me. "Gosford Park" is arguably his most ambitious work to date. To some viewers, the film meanders quite a bit for more than an hour, flittering back and forth between the frantic work pace and never-ending preparations of the downstairs household staff and their employers lush, opulent living and activities upstairs, all during the course of a shooting weekend in the English Countryside. The standout performances include a devilishly spoiled Maggie Smith (whose character as she puts it 'hasn't a snobbish bone in her body') and Kristin Scott Thomas as the lady of the manor whose icy demeanor is off-putting to most but quite attractive to young fellow posing as a servant (a sly and witty Ryan Phillipe). The murder mystery, it has been reported in the entertainment press, wasn't actually added to the film until about 6 weeks into the shoot but you would hardly know since the gradual buildup to that crescendo is so brilliant and almost off-handed! After watching this terrific cast of A-list actors scurry about thier daily activities and then settle into a game of bridge, Brandy, conversation and music (provided by the dashing and alternately grating Jeremy Northam at the piano) a blood-curdling scream from the study snaps everyone from their selfish state and thrusts the film forward to a surprising and satisfying finish. I won't give away more than that (in case you haven't seen it yet) but I will say that there is another tasty little subplot involving two downstairs service people (a magnificent Helen Mirren and Clive Owen). Special kudos to the set designers and costume department for a job well done and for some of the most lush cinematography in recent film history!
Brilliant.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Movie that Could Have Been Great
Review: Judged purely as a mystery story, this is a fabulous movie. I guarantee you'll never guess 'whodunit.' The characters are memorable, the dialogue (much of it improvised, according to the director) is barbed, the revelations are satisfying. But. It could have been so much better. If only we had been allowed to get to know the most important characters more deeply. If only we could have cared more about the murder victim. If only the cleverness hadn't been allowed to overshadow the humanity of the characters. While watching this, I couldn't help but recall how much I loved "Remains of the Day," with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. In that movie the maids and butlers and housekeepers really do become real people for us, and we care immensely about what happens to them. In contrast with that, the Gosford Park characters are rather two-dimensional, with a bit of 'cartoon' about them. There's too much that's already familiar from any Agatha Christie story you've ever seen or read-- the villain who deserves to die, the back-stabbing spoiled children of the wealthy mansion owners, the society idols who refuse to acknowledge that their servants have feelings. A bit more time spent on each major character would have overcome this. Helen Mirren is an incredible actress and usually moves me greatly, but here she isn't given enough to work with, and I find myself curiously indifferent to the emotions she displays at the plot's climax. She's convincing, but she never moves me. Yes, it's a really good movie. It could have been great.
Rating: 
Summary: please
Review: I can't believe how bad this movie really was. I picked it up in the video store intrigued by the many oscar nominations and the muder mystry plot, boy was I let down! at the beggining the movie seemed to have good potential, but half an hour in i asked my self "is there a point to this movie yet?" the answer is no, the only point came about an hour later the the head guy was finally killed. Don't be tricked as i was by the trailer thinking this is a murder mystry, it is not, the trailer shows scenes from the last half hour. this is a terriable movie, the only redeming qualities were the performances. but even thoughs couldn't save this sorry excuse for a movie
Rating:
Summary: No mystery here....a good film!!!
Review: I bought this dvd without having seen it in theaters. I had heard enough good word-of-mouth to feel confident that I would enjoy it. Thankfully, I was not disappointed. This huge cast of characters is thoroughly interesting and the director did a magnificent job with this film. As usual, I'm totally impressed with Maggie Smith, who always gives her best in each project. This dvd has some nice extras and well worth adding to your dvd collection. Ryan Phillipe does a nice job, especially along side of a group of veteran British actors--a daunting task but he succeeds none-the-less. I recommend this film highly. Very entertaining!
Rating:
Summary: Stunning Class War Epic!
Review: Over the years, Robert Altman has proved as elusive as his films to classify or to try to get the definitive pulse from. His films are at once quite focused and yet all over the place. The predominating feature of each of the films is that it is an attempt to define and describe a kind of insane little aspect of the world, as in "MASH", "The Player", or "Nashville". He seems intrigued by the way in which earnestness and sophistry pass through the lens of every observer, so that while we believe we are viewing something in all due reference, he is poking fun at our attempt. Yet he is still standing there next to us, peering through that same small knothole and straining to try to understand whatever it is that is going inside that small space we can see beyond the wooden wall. For Altman, life is messy and hard to discern, and a lot of the dialogue in his films suffer from the same level of noise and discord. Yet no one seems as uniquely capable at capturing all of the noisome nuances of human interaction in its full range of pathos and progress than does Altman. As in MASH, his depiction of the nature of life in an English "cottage" is a masterpiece of such imaginings. The cast here is superb, including Maggie Smith, Jeremy Northam, and Kristin Scott Thomas as the rulers of this limited universe, as well as others such as Kelly MacDonald, Alan Bates, Helen Mirren, and Clive Owen as the working class stiffs just trying to scheme their way through the day. Altman pokes great fun at both sides of the socioeconomic divide, and it is the nature of the class-ordained behavior that provides the foundation for this look at life in the English countryside. While it has commonly been observed before that a hard a difficult life has its rewards, especially allowing for a more realistic appreciation of the gifts of life, never has it been done so gracefully, imaginatively, and with such roaring good humor and repartee as here. Certainly, Altman's fondness for noise and chaos furthers this search for the truth in the situation as nothing else could. The film is entertaining, worthwhile, and extremely well done. I highly recommend it. Enjoy!
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