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Gosford Park

2001, Movie, R, 137 mins

Gosford Park: Review

GOSFORD PARK
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Such a glorious cast, deployed to such trivial effect! This ensemble mystery of manners is by no means the abomination some critics have declared it: It's no RULES OF THE GAME, but if you think of it as a variation on an Agatha Christie murder mystery, complete with much-loathed victim and a cornucopia of colorful suspects, it's perfectly pleasant entertainment. England, 1932: Wealthy Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon), whose fortune was made on the backs of factory workers, and his wife, impoverished aristocrat Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas), are giving a weekend party at their rambling country house, Gosford Park. The guests include their daughter Isobel (Camilla Rutherford), who's awkward in the particular fashion of plain daughters of legendary beauties; Sylvia's younger sisters Louisa (Geraldine Somerville) and Lavinia (Natasha Wightman), and their husbands, snobbish Lord Stockbridge (Charles Dance) and flat-broke Lt. Commander Meredith (Tom Hollander), who's courting Sir William's support for a business prospect; Sylvia's tart-tongued Aunt Constance (Maggie Smith), Countess of Trentham, whose airs belie the fact that her only income is an allowance from Sir William; upper crust bounder Freddie Nesbitt (James Wilby), who married middle-class Mabel (Claudie Blakley) for her money, only to find she didn't have as much as he thought; film star Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam), Sir William's cousin; and Ivor's Hollywood friend, B-movie producer Morris Weissman (Bob Balaban), who thinks attending an authentic English weekend party would be fine research for his upcoming "Charlie Chan in London." Equally important is the small army of servants who live to attend their employers' every want and need. They include Gosford Park's butler and housekeeper, Jennings (Alan Bates) and Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren); prickly cook Mrs. Croft (Eileen Atkins), who runs the kitchen and loathes Mrs. Wilson (the feeling is mutual); Mary Maceachran (Kelly Macdonald), Constance's green young maid; head housemaid Elsie (Emily Watson), who's having a half-hearted affair with Sir William; visiting valet Robert Parks (Clive Owen), who ignores the conventions of servitude; and lecherous footman George (Richard E. Grant), who has nothing but contempt for the upper classes. Though the story is driven by Sir William's murder — the question isn't really who would have wanted him dead, but who wouldn't — the movie's real focus is the complicated interactions between and among guests and servants. The performances range from good to great; it's a shame that their efforts don't coalesce into a more resonant result. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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