Gosford Park (2001)

The entire cast of Gosford Park

Here we have the Oscar winner for best original screenplay from 2001: Gosford Park. It is rated R for a few F-bombs and a very brief sex scene (there are racier sex scenes in some PG-13 movies). Honestly though, if it was released today it may only have been rated PG-13. Neither of us could understand why it was rated R. Maybe we're too desensitized.

Dan- 
So this movie was directed by Robert Altman, most famous for directing a bunch of movies that are beloved by critics and elitists such as MASH, Kansas City, and Nashville, none of which I have seen. But having now seen this movie and a couple of his others (Cookie's Fortune and A Prairie Home Companion) I have noticed two things are common throughout them. One: The dialogue will almost always overlap in order to necessitate multiple viewings for a full appreciation of what is happening, and Two: There are a LOT of characters in his movies who are connected in unlikely ways. Imagine if all of the people in the picture above have dialogue (which they do) and are referenced by name throughout (which they are) and you will have some idea about how much one needs to pay attention. And I still don't know who half of them are! I did find it easy to remember some characters as I had seen them in other movies and they just stood out better, like Clive Owen, Ryan Phillippe, Kelly MacDonald (the Scottish girl) and Maggie Smith.

But that's not to say the movie isn't well-made. It is. And the screenplay is fairly brilliant. I'm just not smart enough to catch everything or fully appreciate how witty and clever this movie is after just one viewing. Hint: turn on the subtitles. Movies like this are designed for repeat viewing, which is both good and bad. Good because it can make a good movie into a great one, like Shawshank Redemption. And bad because it can just get taxing if you don't like the movie and with each subsequent viewing you stretch further into boredom, like Gangs of New York.

This could almost be considered a comedy, but the last 15 minutes of the movie shift the tone toward more of a drama. I'm calling it a dramedy because there was so much humor in it (See: Stephen Fry's bumbling inspector who reminded me of Inspector Clouseau from Pink Panther fame). I was appreciative of my oldest brother who lived in London for several years and gave me some instruction in the art of British humor. People behave in odd or terrible ways and the stuffy Brits just ignore it as if nothing is wrong, because to acknowledge it would be to encourage it (See: Maggie Smith in just about every scene she's in, deserving that Oscar nomination for supporting actress).

I would like to see this movie again to see how much more I can catch and follow, but it won't be anytime soon. To paraphrase Roger Ebert, this is a movie that is about characters and the situations they are each in as opposed to a structured plot. The difficult part is that there are so many characters that you don't seem to get to any of them well enough to care about what happens to them. And the ones you do get to know turn out to be not what they seemed.

I feel like I want to, and should, give this movie another chance but it won't be anytime soon. I probably would like it more upon repeat viewings. I'm giving this movie 3½ out of 5 stars, with an option left open to increase the rating upon subsequent viewings.

Side Note: I would suggest watching it all at once so it becomes easier to keep track of everyone. As you all may be aware, each movie we watch is in 1 hour or less increments so as to fit into our lunch break at work.

Mark-
Let’s just start by letting you know that in my opinion this film was very over-hyped and didn’t live up to its expectations. The tagline for this movie is "Tea at four. Dinner at eight. Murder at midnight.", and sadly if you were to consider this film in terms of being 24 hours long, entertainment wise nothing really happens until just before the 24^th hour. If you were simply to go off of the tagline for this movie you would most likely feel deceived at the movie; I know I did. I would have preferred much more of the focus to have been on the murder, and much less on the tea and dinner.

This film takes place in the 1930s in an English countryside manor, and details the lives, relationships, and interactions of two distinct groups of individuals. The first group is upstairs individuals, which comprises friends and family of a well-off estate holder. The upstairs group seem mostly lost without someone else there to do everything for them, and thus we have their interactions with the downstairs individuals. This second group is comprised of the cooks, butlers, maids, menservants, and drivers.

My biggest criticism for this film is that it simply lacks a sense of flow to it. The first 3/4 of this film takes so long to set up the last 20-30 minutes, that it caused me to lose interest and miss some of the very important points I was supposed to be paying attention to.

I will give a lot of credit to the actors and actresses in this movie. It no doubt helped that there are a lot of very well known and respected actors in this film, and each of the characters did an excellent job at portraying the role they were assigned. The interactions between the two groups is interesting to view, although I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as to call it entertaining. I love how they are able to bring everything together at the end, but it would have been nice to have a little more of the characters backgrounds during the first part of the movie, and not have to try to make sense of so many convoluted messes at the end.

Last of all would be a little suggestion for anyone considering watching this movie. Dan and I turned the subtitles on while we watched this film and it helped immensely. It was difficult to follow the dialog at times due to accents and the numerous conversations which have everyone speaking over one another. 2 ½ * out of 5

My Random Thought For Gosford Park: I can’t think of another movie where all of the characters play such balanced supporting roles, and no one in particular has a starring role.