Review: Gosford Park

Gosford Park isn't an extraordinary movie, but it's highly proficient. This didn't win "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards because it simply didn't deserve it. You see, it serves a different purpose, Gosford Park is a conversational movie with wonderful dialogue that is well spoken. The acting in this film was what made it good, if they hadn't hired these actors and actresses, this would've been a total mess; a disaster.

The thing I liked about this film was the authenticity. Everything was very well thought out. From the accents to the costumes, they all had tremendous thought behind them. This thought helped in making this picture seem real; I truly felt like I was in 1940's England with a hunting party, and all these plump British men were busily babbling amongst themselves. That idea provoked me to think what it really would be like; the film helped me envision it.

The authenticity played a major role in this film, but the key to it's success was the outstanding acting. I thought that Ryan Phillipe was especially good. I loved the way he did his accent the most, it was nothing like his own voice! All of the acting was so wonderful and so pure. The work that it took was tremendous, I greatly appreciate the cast's magnificent efforts that made this the movie that it is.

Lastly, the fabulous direction topped off Gosford Park's fabulous performance. Robert Altman always puts everything he has into all of his movies. He was so wonderful at getting the actors exactly where they needed to be. The placement of everyone was what created such an excellent picture. The camera could grasp everyone's profile excellently.

Gosford Park was a great movie, but not one deserving Academy Award nominations. The script was absolute magic in this case, because the movie was solely based on dialogue. Older audiences will appreciate the film making. I myself enjoyed the quirkiness of the British characters; their profiles were unimaginably funny to me. Gosford Park is well worth seeing.  

-Danny, Bucket Reviews