Film Review of Gosford Park
Year: 2001 Reviewer: Chris Docker
Now in his late 70s, director Robert Altman shows us he can still churn out a very fine movie with seeming effortlessness. A delightful Agatha-Christie type period piece set in a country manor - a sort of "dinner at eight, murder at twelve" type formula. Altman's characteristic long panning shots and dialogue that drifts in and out relax us into feeling like one of the most pampered flies-on-the-wall in all existence. Add to that a collection of some of the finest actors, every one of them radiating brilliant performances, and the actual murder whodunnit is of almost secondary interest to the detailed goings on of everyday life amongst the gentry and servants. Emily Watson, Helen Mirren, Alan Bates, Derek Jacobi, Stephen Fry, Kelly McDonald, Maggie Smith. The list goes on - you couldn't squeeze much more top notch talent into a single movie. The perhaps rather sad thing is that the subject matter is so insubstantial that its reach is so much further than its grasp. Lord of the Rings will live on when class acts like this will be revered but only watched by cinefiles.
Rating: 8/10
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