Gosford Park (2001)
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 142
Fresh: 122 | Rotten: 20
A mixture of Upstairs, Downstairs, Clue, and perceptive social commentary, Gosford Park ranks among director Altman's best.
Average Rating: 8/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 31 | Rotten: 1
A mixture of Upstairs, Downstairs, Clue, and perceptive social commentary, Gosford Park ranks among director Altman's best.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 46,860
My Rating
Movie Info
Maverick American filmmaker Robert Altman takes a witty and absorbing look at the foibles of the British class system in this intelligent murder mystery set in the early '30s. Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) are a pair of wealthy British socialites who have invited a variety of friends, relatives, and acquaintances to their mansion in the country for a weekend of hunting and relaxation. Among the honored guests are Constance (Maggie Smith),
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Maggie Smith
Constance Countess of T... -
Michael Gambon
Sir William McCordle -
Kristin Scott Thomas
Sylvia McCordle -
Jeremy Northam
Ivor Novello -
Bob Balaban
Morris Weissman -
Alan Bates
Jennings -
Richard E. Grant
George -
Helen Mirren
Mrs. Wilson -
Eileen Atkins
Mrs. Croft -
Emily Watson
Elsie -
Stephen Fry
Inspector Thompson -
Kelly Macdonald
Mary Maceachran -
Clive Owen
Robert Parks -
Ryan Phillippe
Henry Denton -
Tom Hollander
Lt. Commander Anthony M... -
Geraldine Somerville
Louisa Lady Stockbridge -
Charles Dance
Raymond Lord Stockbridg... -
Sophie Thompson
Dorothy -
Derek Jacobi
Probert -
James Wilby
Freddie Nesbitt -
Camilla Rutherford
Isobel McCordle -
Claudie Blakley
Mabel Nesbitt -
Natasha Wightman
Lavinia Meredith -
Teresa Churcher
Bertha -
Jeremy Swift
Arthur -
Ron Webster
Constable Dexter -
Frank Thornton
Burkett -
John Fountain
beater -
Joanna Maude
Renee -
Lucy Cohu
Lottie -
Adrian Scarborough
Barnes -
Frances Low
Sarah -
Sarah Flind
Ellen -
John Atterbury
Merriman -
Laurence Fox
Lord Rupert Standish -
Trent Ford
Jeremy Blond -
Finty Williams
Janet -
Emma Buckley
May -
Laura Harling
Ethel -
Tilly Gerrard
Maud -
Will Beer
Albert -
-
Leo Bill
Jim -
Ron Puttock
Strutt -
Adrian Preater
McCordles' loader -
John Cox
Loader -
Ken Davies
Loader -
Tony Davies
Loader -
Steve Markham
Loader -
Terry Sturmey
Loader -
Julian Such
Loader -
Alan Bland
beater -
Peter Champion
beater -
Geoff Double
beater -
Robin Devereux
beater -
Richard Gamble
beater -
Brian Rumsey
beater -
Pip the Dog
Widget -
George Sherman
beater -
Megan Owen
Lewis
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (166) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (132) | Rotten (20) | DVD (39)
A scintillating comedy-drama and one of [Altman's] most richly moving and entertaining pictures.
Top CriticWonderful British whodunit with some sexual content.
Masquerading as a whodunit, Gosford Park is really an intricate examination of the rigid English class structure that started to transform between the two world wars.
Contents and style converge smoothly and seductively in Altman's luxuriant period drama that applies Agatha Christie murder-mystery format to a rigorous anatomy of British class structure in the 1930s, with all the who's who in U.K. in the cast.
Altman juggles about thirty different characters, moving them from the upper-class upstairs to the servants' quarters... and he does so without losing the audience.
Pret-a-Porter and Dr. T. & and the Women, tarnished his '90s comeback, but the ornery Altman is back in top form here.
Audience Reviews for Gosford Park
Super Reviewer
One of the best and most noticeable features of this film is great cast. There are so many big names in this film, British names to be specific...in fact basically every English actor is in this. With this in mind, I had high expectations. The cast delivered. This film is wonderfully acted, with excellent performances from everyone, especially Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Kristen Scott Thomas, and Emily Watson.
Another thing that really stuck out to me was how solid of a period piece this is. The film studies the British class system of the 1930's, and I really felt like I was therein the era. The sets were all stunning and elaborate, as were the wonderful costumes and props. Everything about the appearance of the film was top-notch. An extremely well made film.
Also the script was great...very powerful and effective. It deserved its Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The story that went along with that was also great. The film is slow, but it does eventually lead of to a murder. This is the main focus of the film, but at the same time it emphasizes the entangled relationships of everyone in the house. I think that's the reason this film suceeds.
Overall, I think this is a great film. Nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, this is a must-see film!
Super Reviewer
-
- Constance Countess of Trentham: What was funny?
-
- Henry Denton: You Brits really don't have a sense of humor do you?
- Elsie: We do if something's funny, sir.
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Gosford Park yet.
Latest News on Gosford Park
February 4, 2009:
Exclusive: Inside Pinewood/Shepperton - A Photo TourEvery year, the BAFTA film awards present a trophy for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema....
November 21, 2006:
Auteur Robert Altman Passes Away at 81Robert Altman, the esteemed and venerable director of "M*A*S*H," "Nashville,"...
November 8, 2006:
RTIndie: An Art-House Catfight for the Oscars?Helen Mirren's astoundingly successful biopic "The Queen" is getting some serious...
What's Hot On RT
Trailer for James Franco adaptation
Star Trek opens softer than expected
Rachel McAdams' time travel romantic drama
Trailer for Tom Hanks thriller
Featured on RT
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Star Trek Softer Than Expected at #1 38
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 34
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 101
- Red Carpet Roundup: Star Trek Into Darkness Edition 0
- Video Interviews with Katie Aselton & Lake Bell of Black Rock 2
- VIP Access: Eli Roth talks Aftershock 1
- Total Recall: Star Trek Movies 94
Top Headlines
-
J.J. Abrams Talks Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars, and More
0
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Begin a New Trilogy
8
-
Mickey Rourke Confirmed for Expendables 3
4
-
Brad Bird Still Mulling Incredibles 2
0
-
Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, and Martin Short Join Inherent Vice
0
-
Bruce Willis Makes an Expiration Date
2
-
Drew Pearce Hired for Mission: Impossible 5
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
"Tea At Four. Dinner At Eight. Murder At Midnight."
Well Gosford Park wasn't as amazing as I hoped it would be. It's packaged as a murder mystery, but really all it is, is servants gossiping about the higher class and the higher class gossiping about their fellow higher class. The whole murder thing only takes about an hour of the movie, and even then it doesn't really drive the film.
The first hour and fifteen minutes of the film is devoted to getting to know the huge cast of characters. There's so many characters to keep track of. You got all these servants and maids, and then there's all the higher class. No wonder so much time had to be devoted to character development, there's just so many of them. We get to see the life of both the upper class and servants during a weekend stay at a rich mans house. Then the man whose house everyone is at is killed and a detective is brought in, who ends up questioning a lot of people. The movie didn't play out like your standard dinner party murder mystery, where someone is killed and everyone stands around in a big group and tries to figure out who did it. It's grounded, for better or worse, in reality.
What makes this movie a worthwhile film is a huge and talented cast. Maggie Smith, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Ryan Phillipe; and the cast goes on and on and on and on. My favorite performance came from one of the smaller names, Kelly McDonald who plays a maid and is the one who actually pieces the whole thing together and figures out what happened. The performances go a long way in keeping this slow meandering plot going.
I can't say whether I liked this or not. I liked the idea of it and the acting was outrageously good. In the end though, I was left sort of underwhelmed. Hardcore Altman fans are probably in love with this film, but for me, it's just another movie, albeit with one of the best ensemble casts ever configured. Whether or not you'll like it will depend on your ability to watch really talky movies and still find it intriguing. I normally can, but by the hour mark I was kind of ofer the whole gossip thing.