Gosford Park - Collector's Edition (DVD)

This movie was funny in places. Historical in places. Very British in all over. It kept moving so you didn't get bored but also entertained you. It is worth seeing. I was shocked to see Ryan Phillipe in it. Clive Owen always seems to over power his characters with his deep voice and very confident demeanor but he was so thin back then.The drawbacks for me were1) I cannot understand what some of those people were saying with their thick accents (even after seeing it 2 times), especially the daughter that was sleeping with that one woman's blond husband.2) I think it is weaselly of Hollywood (even if it may be due to free trade pacts) to "throw an American" in a British setting just because it is an American film. Americans don't have to be everywhere.3) It had too many minor characters getting in the way to where I was asking "Who is that?". I don't mean the extras . . . obviously there was a need for them . . . it was a mansion with lots...Read more

I love this movie and own a copy, but I occasionally watch it via Amazon or Netflix. I have probably watched it end to end 8 or 9 times, and bits of it even more often. In addition to having great actors, a great set and an interesting, dramatic story line, it contains a very neat mystery evocative of Agatha Christie at her best. Much of it written by Julian Fellowes who later became the chief writer of Downton Abbey, the story captures the sense and breadth of both that series and the Upstairs, Downstairs series (which Fellowes also contributed to) but in a greatly condensed form. Robert Altman's best film with wonderful performances from Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Charles Dance, Jeremy Northam, Kelly Macdonald, Stephen Fry, Kristin Scott Thomas, Bob Balaban, Derek Jacobi and many others. A masterpiece of mood, mystery, wit, and human drama set in the English countryside in 1932, with great scenery and music (Northam's singing is not to be missed) to boot...Read more