Rating: 
Summary: Far Superior to Christie...
Review: This review refers to the rather transparent review given by a woman from the UK. No, Agatha Christie would certainly not have written something this good, she struggled to produce decent books for most of her life, though appealing to an audience of a rather subdued level of literary exposure. This is smooth, intelligent script writing, with some minor flaws. Lush yet cold, observant but secretly intrusive. Smith indeed steals many of the scenes, but Gambon is superb at stabbing them all in the back...
Rating: 
Summary: Give it a chance.......
Review: I don't think people who've reviewed the movie have watched it thoroughly enough or look at how technically masterful it is. You have to realize that Altman is capturing trying to capture the pace of life at the time, ala Barry Lyndon. Smell the coffee!
Rating: 
Summary: Why Can't We Give Zero Stars?
Review: That is my only question about this waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Terrible¿A Collosal BOMB
Review: I don't care how stylish the sets-how great the acting-to see this film again in order to "understand" it would be a waste of my time. It stunk. The plot is lame and predictable, there is not one character worth caring about and the most likable actor was the dog. This was an exercise in self-massaging of Altman's ego-he has been known to have done that before. Next time I suggest he think twice before sending one of his "ideas" (see the creative credits at the start of the film) to the screen. How do you spell pew as in stinky? Also, I don't think subtitles would have helped me to understand this piece of drivel-lame lame lame.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: I found this movie extremely intriguing...at first I was overwhelmed by the amount of characters and speed of information whizzing by--it was difficult to connect them. Then everything started to gell, at the second dinner. I went back at this point and reviewed the build up and the connections really fell into place. Going forward again, the movie became more and more fascinating. I loved that no one really cared that Lord William was murdered, and the subtlety of the unravelling mystery. The end was very, very emotional. I was so haunted by all the details I felt compelled to go back again and see how Altman crafted his web. Fascinating. This is better than a formula mystery.
Rating:
Summary: A modern day classic that needs to be seen at least twice.
Review: The first time I watched Gosford Park, I was a little bored, and a little stressed out. It was difficult to catch what everyone was saying, and I could not keep track of who was who! When it was done I was relieved, and wondered why it had won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in the first place. I slept on it, and the next day I decided to give it a second chance--and am I glad I did! I pretty much knew the names of all the characters and such so I could focus on the story and also the great dialogue. It reminded me of the old classic movies that were made up primarily of really good dialogue.
The movie also had a really good idea about the upper crusts and their servants (who know more than their employers would like!). One line in the film says it all: one of the detectives who is interviewing all the people in the house after the murder, sees no point in speaking to many of the servants. He only wants to investigate the people, he says, "had a real connection to the victim." Oh, contraire!
There is a wickedly good twist at the end (though I kind of suspected it earlier on), and it just cements the statement the film makers were trying to say.
I highly recommend Gosford Park, and even if you enjoy it the first time around, watch it again, maybe even more than that, to be sure you catch every bit of brilliant dialogue.
Rating:
Summary: A MIXED BAG.
Review: It's tough to fault the hordes of viewers who found this movie dreadfully unbearable, "a waste of time", "utter tripe" etc. I couldn't tell a footboy from a butler or a valet myself, but I could surely feel that this was one long movie! But that doesn't mean it is not a deliciously watchable feast of film making. Setting: a bunch of woefully uppetty folks meet up at a humongous country house in Britain for a week of shooting pigeons (one of those affluent pursuits.) Each rich soul has a dedicated, personal servant to be pandered by. And the movie's various funny moments derive from this now-comical-but-then-a-reality setting. The narrative is Altman-fabulous and lined with a liberal dose of wry humour: - "So you think he's the murderer?"
- "No, even worse. He's an actor." ...and a fair amount of cultural barbs: - "Stop snivelling, they'll think you're Italian!", or,
- "You Brits don't have a sense of humour, do you?" and the ever so politely delivered retort, "We do, when something is funny, Sir." After only the hour and 10 minutes of introductions to the various characters, when we do hit the crime, the turtle pace quickens a notch. I can see why this long pregnant wait leaves some viewers wraught. But personally I found this Agatha Christie-esque unravelling of each individual's idiosynchrasies fascinating, because it sets up a "motive" for several of our characters. It's twice as much fun if many people COULD have executed the murder. Enter: Stephen Fry as a very Sherlock Holmes-esque investigator, pipe and trenchcoat and all. Kind of builds up hope for a thrilling investigation, doesn't it. Trouble is, none is forthcoming. Fry made do with a small-fry part really. No, the murder is instead solved in a somewhat lame manner, by one of the inquisitive maids. This is the biggest gyp of the film and the reason I take off the 1 full delicious star. I could see the ending coming from a mile. Overall a stylishly told story, with some very good moments. I found the subtitles very handy as the Scottish accents, and the occasional argot, are a bit tough to comprehend. Don't really set yourself up for a murder mystery who-dun-it, which it could be argued it is, in a half-baked sort of a way, but that is probably a plus: this is not your run of the mill murder mystery but an off-beat movie that'll nonetheless hold your attention.
Rating:
Summary: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Review: When I read the few negative reviews among all the raves, I figured that some people are simply not sophisticated to appreciate a good movie. I was wrong. Gosford Park is one of the most boring movies I have ever seen. It is incomprehensible when it comes to connecting the characters. Certainly, this movie would be better watched a second time. But why torture yourself to a second viewing of a movie that goes nowhere?
Rating: 
Summary: Agatha Christie would never have written this
Review: A previous reviewer refers to this film as a 'classical Agatha Christie whodunnit'. I'm sorry, but this is nonsense. Never would Agatha Christie, mistress of her craft, have written such a feeble mystery. For a start, the murder doesn't take place until more than halfway through the film, the detective when he appears is an idiot who couldn't detect his way out of a paper bag, and it's pretty obvious from the start who the murderer is, and why she did it. Pathetic. The film is riddled with cliches, all the upper-class characters are grim and repressed, all the working-class characters are warm, vibrant, life-loving etc. The film is just about worth watching for the performance of Maggie Smith, playing the only interesting character in the film, and the lovely Ivor Novello music. As a mystery, the film is hopeless.
Rating:
Summary: Godsford Park
Review: To start off with, I gave this movie four stars despite the fact that I love this movie. This is because when i first bought this movie I almost thought about selling it back used. It was only after a certain amount of determination on my part that I was able to come to enjoy this film.
Yet this movie deserves to be viewed multiple times. The way the dialogue is done, and the confusion created by all the sub-plots proves to be frustrating initially. With each viewing however I found that once I knew the basics of the plot, I was able to grasp a lot more, and to enjoy the film. Every time I watch it now I notice new things, various details that Robert Altman slipped into the film that did not seem to stand out before.
It should be said, that (at least from what I remember) in one of the documentaries in the extra features, Robert Altman states that he didn't want to keep the murder a mystery. This is Altman playing around with the conventional who-dunnit. one. These extra features add a further dimension of appreciation for me, over the meticulous detail put into the creation of the setting, and its authenticity. So to summarize.... Pick this movie up and hopefully enjoy, but at least try to watch it at least twice... you'll be pleasantly surprised.
|
