Rating: 
Summary: Not to be missed
Review: For anyone who likes a good old fashon who-done-it, this may be for you. The characters are delightful and surprisingly human. The whole interplay between upstairs and downstairs is wonderful to watch. The director let the actors become the characters not just actors playing a part. I feel this is one of the best movies to come out of Hollywood in a long time. It is orginal, entertaining and fun to watch, with just a touch of tears to give it body. I highly recomend this work to everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow, with an Unclimatic Plot
Review: While Gosford Park provides an excellent look into 1930s English country life, the movie moves very slowly and does not have much plot to it. Once the murdered occured, I had hoped the plot and the pace would pick up, but neither did. And while there are some great lines in the movie, they are not enough to keep things moving. The costumes are very well done and the set is great; both are done to period. However, the cinematography does not do them, nor the plot, justice. The music is beautiful. Hats off to Patrick Doyle for another job well done. If you're looking for a study of 1930s English aristocrats and their servants, Gosford Park is the movie for you. If you're wanting a period who-done-it that twists and turns and keeps you rivetted to the end...watch Clue. You'll find it much more enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: A winner for Robert Altman
Review: Depending on whom you ask, legendary director Robert Altman is either a fool or a genius. His fifty year career includes prominence in the early days of TV with his direction of dozens of hit series such as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Maverick", and "Bonanza". His filmmaking credits include "M.A.S.H." and "The Player", both critically acclaimed. His mercurial style of filmmaking is probably a rebellion from the highly structured approach imposed upon him by early TV. The direction of his recent films can only be described as chaotic, with a cacophony of actors speaking over one another, and moving hither and yon as the camera sweeps from one side of the room to the other attempting to home in on the dialogue of particular characters. Altman himself admits that he doesn't even read the script and really isn't concerned with what the actors say, as long as things sound right to him when they come out of their mouths. He encourages ad-libbing and the more disordered the scene, the better he generally likes it. Often, this produces utter disasters, like "Dr. T and the Women" and "Gun". Sometimes it produces a gem like "Gosford Park". As a murder mystery, Gosford Park is not all that special. It is fairly predictable with obvious hints dropped at every turn as to who did it and why. As is the case in most of Altman's recent films, it is difficult to make out a lot of the dialogue with the din on the soundstage of everyone talking at once. However, what makes this film unique is the treatment of the human dynamic between the aristocracy and the servants. While lampooning the wealthy by contrasting their behavior with the simple wisdom of commoners is nothing new, never has it been done with such depth and nuance. Altman's flowing direction of simultaneous events is probably the only way this could have been accomplished so effectively. The all-star ensemble cast is superlative. Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Jeremy Northam all give fabulous performances upstairs, and Kelly Macdonald, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Emily Watson and Alan Bates are marvelous downstairs. For film lovers who enjoy good acting, this film is paradise. Genius or fool? Who knows, maybe both. However for Robert Altman, this film is clearly a winner. I rated it 9/10.
Rating:
Summary: Upstairs/Downstairs with Tude!
Review: I confess to being a Robert Altman fan. I love most of his work (but not all). I found this to be a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable film and I recommend it to people who enjoy non-linear, non-Hollywood films. This is a dream cast of the best of British actors, going through their paces in a delicious satire/social comedy/mystery delineating in great detail the different lives of the different classes in 1930's England. This is Upstairs/Downstairs with attitude! These Downstairs servants are neither in love with or in awe of their social "betters" Upstairs. Far from it! They find their Lords & Masters for the most part silly, stupid, vain, dull and penny-pinching cheapskates ( especially when it comes to paying their Serving class, at any rate). We get to observe and contrast the two classes throughout the course of the film: the Upstairs at play, busily screwing each other both literally and figuratively, while, the Downstairs lot work like the devil to keep these precious Aristos in ease and comfort. All of this done in typical Altman understatement and casual, almost throwaway observation & dialogue. I found the period detail wonderful, and the wit droll and precise. As I said, it is a dream cast of the cream of British acting so everyone is spot-on. I will admit the dialogue and sound can be difficult to catch, what with the accents and all. Here's a suggestion: it's a DVD, put on the hearing impaired captions. I did, so that I wouldn't miss a single bit of dialogue. And finally, I am glad the murder mystery resolved itself the way it did. A nice bit of ironic justice, and a nice bit of final revelation of character(s). I changed my rating from 4 to 5 just to offset all the terrible reviews this film did not merit. I would give it 4-1/2 actually. For Godsake if you didn't get this film, then stick with Spiderman and leave Robert Altman alone!
Rating: 
Summary: DVD=Dig Very Deeply: It's well worth it.
Review: The DVD of Gosford Park is a terrific value, and really the best way to see, enjoy, and understand the film. First, see the movie straight through, even though you might miss a third of the dialogue. Second, watch the English- subtitled version (allegedly for the hard of hearing, but a real boon to those of us with good ears who couldn't catch all the dialogue the first time). Third, see it again with the screenwriter's comments. Invaluable! Fourth, once more, with Robert Altman's commentary. In between, watch the deleted scenes, and see "The Making Of," the "Historical Accuracy," and "Q&A" documentaries. The package is the best use of the DVD format I've encountered. At each viewing, my appreciation of this film increased.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: This was supposed to be a whodonit with some kind of twist. Instead, it was a slow movie about a bunch of fartsy aristocrats having shallow conversation. And all those servants! To its credit, the movie has a good setting and good costumes. The plot, however, is less interesting than one expects from a whodonit. Looks like this movie won or was nominated for an Oscar... Maybe for the "artistic" value this film deserved it, but certainly not for the entertainment value.
Rating:
Summary: For DVD
Review: I would have given 4 stars for the movie itself; but the DVD is excellent piece of work. Great selections are put together on "Special Features",which is as much fun and intresting as the movie itself. you can watch the deleted scenes, more than 12 scenes by the way, with/without comments by director/commentetors. Interviews, behind the scene actions,ect., that is all great work. So if you watch the movie and like it, I stronglly recommend you get it on DVD too.
Rating:
Summary: Not so much "whodunit" as "who cares?"
Review: GOSFORD PARK is ostensibly an English country-house murder mystery, but in fact the murder plot is incidental to the film, which is really an examination of class relations in Britain prior to World War II. And therein lies both the strength and weakness of GOSFORD PARK. Like most films by Robert Altman, GOSFORD PARK sports a large cast (the film is extremely well-acted) and the camera wanders among overlapping conversations forcing the viewer to piece together what is really happening. It is hard to follow, and probably only makes sense after multiple viewings. The particular strength of GOSFORD PARK lies in its recreation of life in an aristocratic country manor. The screen writer, Julian Fellows was writing out of personal experience, and the filmmakers employed individuals who had once worked in such a house as cook, maid, and butler. From the mechanics of running such a large household, to the intricacies of the dress code, and the elaborate codes of etiquette, GOSFORD PARK offers a stunning glimpse of a style of life that few of us know first-hand. The weakness of the film is that it has no heart. It is meant to be a commentary on the social distance between the classes, even as they lived in close quarters to one another. But there is this pesky murder plot line, and while the disinterest of everyone in the film as to who actually "dunit" may be a commentary on the social mores of the day, the fact that even the protagonist in the end seems almost indifferent when she "solves" the crime lends a certain moral dissonance to the project. Indeed, at the end one is left wondering whether or not she might someday find herself romantically involved with a person who is entirely unrepentant about having stabbed someone in the heart with a knife. It is impossible to be deeply involved in a film in which there is no moral order at all. We are simply left watching a large number of people pursuing their interests, with no reason at all to care about what happens to them.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely well done
Review: This is a movie that requires you to watch it at least twice. I love this movie! The acting, writing, sets, and costumes are spectacular. However, I can see how the easily-distracted or dull-witted would find this movie "boring." It is slow at times, but it is hilarious and incredibly intricate. What a masterpiece!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful mystery with a downstairs charm.
Review: This is one of the most facinating mysteries I have every seen. Not told from the elegant upstairs point of view, but by the gossiping servants below stairs. This humorous mystery deserves a place in film history.
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