Rating:
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Bradbury
Gosford Park
UK, 2001
[Robert Altman]
Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Jeremy Northam, Charles Dance
Mystery / Drama
It is 1932 and Sir William McCordle is holding a hunting weekend in his country mansion. Top socialites and their entourage arrive but someone kills the host. Whodunnit?

Having been told
Gosford Park was a murder mystery that summarised my expectations when approaching this film. That was actually a good thing as I like a good 'whodunnit'. I was slightly bemused to note the corpse warranting star billing as getting murdered doesn't usually require a big name (though Jean Claude Van Damme would do admirably). In fact the murder is not committed until past halfway in the film. During this time all the best murder-mystery traditions are acknowledged. Everyone has a motive. McCordle has been stopping allowances, pulling out of deals and generally pissing people off to the point where you suspect even his dog might want to kill him. And when the murder is finally committed people are wandering off left, right and centre in bids to be considered suspects.

However, any pretence that this is a genuine 'whodunnit' is abandoned shortly afterwards when we learn exactly how he is killed. Logically at that point only one person could have killed him and whilst that might not have stopped Agatha Christie, after a couple of further red herrings this proves the case.

The truth is that
Gosford Park is not really a murder-mystery. The murder storyline just provides an excuse for Altman to stage a character driven drama examing class difference. The story is viewed from the perspective of the numerous servants and the film is more a look at how people lived in an earlier time and the prejudices and resentment that distinguished the upper class from the rest. The film is more about characters and how they interact than plot. A top notch cast ensures this element of the film is fascinating and although the first fifteen minutes is spent celebrity spotting, after that there are some excellent performances to enjoy, notably from Emily Watson, Kristen Scott Thomas, Ryan Phillippe and Maggie Smith. She has played a spoilt rich old lady so many times now it must seem second nature. The one exception was Stephen Fry who I felt hammed his part slightly too much.

The whole drama is played out in beautiful surroundings and the decor is truly breathtaking and extravagent, although the magnificent dining room is actually situated at the opposite end of the house from the kitchens, meaning the main course would often be extinct by the time it reached its destination.

Overall I really enjoyed this film but I did feel the murder plot could have been improved as by the end it seemed a bit token. Also the ending seemed rather rushed. Just when it appears to have a good hour left in it everything happens at once and it finishes ten minutes later. This could have been slowed down and would have been much more effective. This is a good film which is worth seeing but it is not a great one.
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