Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic period piece
Review: Gosford Park purports to be an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. There is indeed a murder, and it is a mystery to the characters, but the murder doesn't even happen until well into the film. For anyone expecting to see a classic whodunnit, this movie is not for you.Gosford Park provides a fascinating glimpse into 1930s English aristocratic life. The movie spends much time examining the relationships between the upper crust in dealing with each other and their servants as well as the relationships among the servants themselves. Be warned though, there are many many characters, many of whose names are heard and lost instantly. It was fairly difficult to sort out who was who, especially among the dark-haired younger aristocrat women. The plot was a little slow in the middle and at times I had trouble sorting out each character's motive for murder. My only complaint is that I thought they could have done a better job of reminding the audience who everyone was and how they were related. By far the standout performance is that of Maggie Smith as Constance, the Countess of Trentham. Smith's performance as an aging portrait of nobility who feels she can say whatever she wants due to her advanced age is superb. Her expressions and mannerisms are perfection, and she delivers some of the funniest expressions and lines in the film. She deserves to win the Supporting Actress Oscar. Very similar to Judi Dench's Queen Elizabeth, and Maggie Smith had lots more screen time. If you are going to see this movie, do so and enjoy the experience. If you go in with exceedingly high expectations, you will probably be disappointed. But if you wish to see a slice of life from fays gone by, you will find it marvelous.
Rating: 
Summary: Imperfect but engaging
Review: I enjoyed "Gosford Park" and modern cinema could do with more of this kind of actor-centric film that relies on plot and character rather than special effects. The movie tells the story of a ritzy weekend at a country estate, where the rich guests mingle and dwell on their various problems while the servants below stairs have their own adventures. Eventually the head of the household is murdered, and we are treated to an Agatha-Christie kind of whodunnit, with something of a surprise ending. All of this is good fun, but I must say I was a little disappointed in the movie for a few reasons. One, there seem to be way too many characters to keep up with, and too many red herrings that have nothing to do with the mystery at hand. I had a hard time keeping up with everybody and what their motives and problems might be; after a while I couldn't tell who was who, let alone who dunnit. Many details, like Mary the maid getting kissed by her admirer, go nowhere and are never resolved, nor do they have much to do with the plot. Also, I felt that the whole thing was too quick-cut. Few scenes seemed to last more than 30 seconds. I barely had time to laugh at Stephen Frye's great performance as a police inspector before the scene was cut and onto something else. So I do feel that the movie is flawed, but I enjoyed the mystery and meeting a few of these characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Sophisticated 'Clue'
Review: For the most part, clever script and amusing, engaging characters--but film took itself too seriously at the end. Also, it would have been better if there had been more setting variety instead the same old stuffy indoor upstairs/downstairs scenes.
Rating:
Summary: So British It Hurts
Review: Director Robert Altman's (M*A*S*H) latest serving of film delight, the enigmatically-named Gosford Park, is a rare treat in a cinematic season largely devoted to action and fantasy. An amalgam of character study, murder mystery, and class tensions, Gosford Park may be unique among films in that it proudly proclaims in its opening credits that it is "based on an idea." Indeed, an idea is what Gosford Park seems to revel in, the idea of the good and the bad among British aristocracy and our notions of them, both as Americans and as a people of a time when class distinctions don't matter so much. Keeping track of the characters in this film is a chore. The film (somewhat) follows the adventures of Mary (the gorgeous Kelly McDonald), a new maid who works for Lady Constance, Countess of Trentham (a perfectly cast Dame Maggie Smith). The Countess has been invited, along with several other guests, to attend a weekend dinner and hunting party at a house - presumably called Gosford Park - owned by Sir William McCordle and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas, who seems perpetually typecast as an adulteress). The ladies all sit around and gossip, the men go hunting and smoke cigars, and the servants talk about what's really happening in the little social circle they've decided to work for. Of course, one of the partygoers ends up dead, and the murder is handled as more of an inconvenience than anything else. The normal air of division between the servants and the aristocrats turns into a feeling of almost hostility as the police attempt to close in on the murderer, and in doing so reveal some very ugly secrets about each of the people involved. It's a whodunit without a sense of urgency (yes, the murder does get solved), and far more of a intimate but detached look at a way of life that most Americans are utterly unfamiliar with. Add to that Altman's perfect sense of pacing and delivery, along with some of the best cinematography since The Thin Red Line, and Gosford Park become a tasty treat for all brave enough to venture back to that emerald isle. There are some strong Oscar contenders here, and if this movie doesn't at least get a nomination for Best Picture, it should raise some eyebrows and start the gossip rolling - but only among the servants, of course.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Involving, Deep & Intricate
Review: "Gosford Park" is a wonderful British ensemble period piece directed by the deft hand of Robert Altman. I must profess to not like all of Altman's movies --- but only because of their particular plots. He is always a master at weaving a web of multiple character interaction, and having it wickedly make reassuring sense in the end. This time around, he has incorporated British class tensions, 1930's posh sensibilities, a murder in the middle of the night, and some unsettling character revelations. And it is all done superbly. The picture starts with all of the various characters arriving at Sir William McCordle's English countryside mansion for the weekend. The 'technical' reason for the gathering is a shooting party, but there are many other underlying plot contrivances and character passions that drive their desire to be present at Sir William's. I am so happy to watch a movie with such a myriad of fine British actors that I've loved watching in countless other quality productions, that I won't list them all here, but let me point-out the subtle, and not-so-subtle excellent performances of Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, and Alan Bates. Their roles, and performances, are especially well-done. Everyone in this movie is simply great, though, and shows how well a true ensemble piece can be. The story moves along briskly, cutting inbetween the upperclass upstairs, and their servants downstairs. Both levels provide very interesting back-story. There is a murder during one of the nights, a bumbling police detective on the scene, and secrets and motives begin to lift out of the haze of attempted privacy. The acting and directing are simply exquisite in this subtle balance and unfolding. The murder does not occur until a little past the half-way point of the movie, and though I was wondering whodunit, it really did seem one of the more trivial aspects of the film. "Gosford Park" is about people. It may be set in 1930's England, but what it so expertly shows us is that people aren't really all that different no matter what era they come from, what class they're a part of, or what petty things they have to worry about in their everyday lives. The movie is funny, charming, serious, multi-layered, and richly textured. I want to watch it again, and again, and again.
Rating:
Summary: "Gosford Park" well made, yet very slow
Review: Robert Altman's "Gosford Park" is one of the more well made films of the year. It has a wonderful feel and style to it that only Robert Altman can bring to such a film. I found myself amazed at how he can keep track of so many people all at once. It has very interesting characters, how many of them I'm not sure, and a very clever and simple story. Also, the cast is really extraordinary. Yet, as I was watching the film, I kept wondering to myself when the story was going to pick up and really get going. Unfortunately, it never did. The film has some really great scenes in it, some of which involve all of the characters just talking about what is going on in their lives, that I really enjoyed watching, but I just wish that they all added up to some kind of really exciting climax. I guess I just was expecting more out of the film, and in the end, what I was expecting was never delivered.
Rating:
Summary: ENTERTAINING, BUT TOO MUCH IS UNDERDEVELOPED AND UNRESOLVED
Review: This film is entertaining, but it bites off more than it can chew. It has too many characters, too many subplots, and too few resolutions. This is the sort of screenplay that needs pruning or should have been developed as a novel instead. For my money, the murder mystery in the second half of Gosford Park is the weakest part of the movie. What had been a satisfyingly dramatic study of the British class system suddenly becomes a murder mystery. The abrupt change of the movie's focus and tone is jarring and unpleasant, and the explanation of how the first murder came about is absurd unless one believes in mind-reading. Gosford Park's ending is unsatisfactory, both because the mystery is never officially solved and because some storylines remain murky. Promising material was left undeveloped. Very little is done with the film-within-a-film structure. The detectives (who usually would be the center of a murder mystery such as this one) get little screen time. Interesting subplots are just barely suggested, and so on. So many characters are introduced so quickly that it is almost impossible to keep strait who is who. Some of them turn out to be incidental, but we don't know that at the beginning, so we struggle to remember all of them. The audience does not know on what to focus, because Altman couldn't seem to decide either. The result is a superficial immersion into the lives of too many characters. With Gosford Park, less would have been more. The problem of following the movie's action is compounded (for this American) by the strong British accents and the frequently clench-jaw delivery by the members of the upper class. Nonetheless, the ensemble cast is superb, and Altman's fluid handling of the large household as the film jumps from conversation to conversation and room to room is superb. Altman does a fine job of making the year 1932 come alive so that it rarely feels like a "costume" drama. It's a shame that all of this directorial and thespian talent was not used to greater effect.
Rating: 
Summary: Godforsaken Park
Review: Unfortunately, I cannot put in a minus. I don't know if the folks who made this could figure out what kind of a film they wanted. But they suceeded in doing nothing. It was a boring, pretentious waste of talent and film and my money. I felt robbed, but sticking a gun in my face would have made it a quick clean heist instead of the mumbing, funbling attempts on the screen. I love period pieces and was expecting just about anything except for what I got. I heard the director say he would continue working as long as it was fun. If it were up to me, he would be retired before he made this poor excuse for a film.
Rating:
Summary: A sumptuous period piece with a superb cast
Review: I relished "Gosford Park," the period piece directed by Robert Altman. The film takes place on an opulent British country estate in the early 20th century. A group of aristocrats and their servants have gathered for a weekend. But a shocking crime is committed, turning the film into a "whodunnit." "Gosford Park" is a cinematic crime mystery that cleverly comments on its own genre through one of its own characters: a rather creepy American film producer who makes crime mysteries himself. The film also comments on class, ethnic, and gender issues as the interrelationships among the aristocrats and their servants are explored. The acting is first rate throughout. Particulary superb performances are turned in by Emily Watson and Helen Mirren as two of the servants; Watson brings an earthy sensuality to her role, and Mirren is stunning as "the perfect servant" who discharges her duties with a Spartan demeanor. A really crowd-pleasing performance is turned in by Maggie Smith as a gossipy, nasty aristocrat. Smith gets some of the film's funniest lines, and delivers them with a witheringly acidic zest. The ensemble cast is huge, and a few of the characters struck me as underdeveloped; I wondered if some material had been sacrificed to the cutting room floor in order to keep the film down to a certain length. But overall this is a superbly crafted film: a clever blend of drama and comedy. The production values are superb; the sets and costumes make "Gosford Park" a visual feast from beginning to end. All things considers, "Gosford Park" is a thought-provoking and richly entertaining film.
Rating:
Summary: What a swell party this is!
Review: I wavered between giving Gosford Park four or five stars; like most of Altman's films, it has its faults. But--again like most of Altman's films--what's good about it is SO good that I decided to give it the extra star. Altman has great, lavish fun with Julian Fellowes' screenplay about nasty, dictatorial Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his catty wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) who invite a few friends and relatives for a grouse-shooting weekend at their palatial estate. Sir William is murdered in the course of the festivities, and the "whodunit" turns out to be far less interesting than the "whydunit." The murder plot is sub-Agatha Christie, and the muffled class war between the stupid, callous aristrocrats and the smart, sensitive servants is nothing new to anyone who's seen "Upstairs, Downstairs." Also, some in the huge cast of characters get lost in the shuffle (it's particularly distressing to see an actor as great as Sir Derek Jacobi cast as a supernumerary), and a few scenes drag, particularly toward the end. But the best moments are so telling, and the best performances so sharp, that it ends up being a perfectly delightful time. "Gosford Park," along with "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," seems to be one of the first productions emanating from the British Thespians' Full Employment Act, and it's a joy to see so many great actors on the screen together. The women have the juiciest roles here (redressing the usual cinematic tendency to have it the other way round). Particularly memorable are Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Emily Watson, and Kelly Macdonald (the last playing the movie's only fully admirable character). Among the men, honors are shared between Clive Owen--once again giving Michael Caine a run for the title of Coolest Living Englishman--and Ryan Philippe, who brings life and wit to his role as a devious pretty boy. The sets and photography are eye-popping, but this is basically an actors' show, and the best performances here will linger in your mind a long time indeed.
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