Gosford Park

GOSFORD PARK (2001) - March 30, 2004
A slow-moving and overrated drama with about a million characters (which is perhaps one the problems -- there are so many characters we never really get to know any of them). Robert Altman's much-touted "overlapping dialogue" either isn't present here at all, or just doesn't amount to much. There are scenes with a lot of characters at once but they generally all take their turn to talk. The audio was a bit muffled in the version I watched, so I missed a bit of dialogue, which probably didn't help. As well, it was projected letterboxed despite the fact that it was widescreen, so everything was a little squished. So not really the ideal viewing conditions. But even in perfect conditions I still wouldn't have enjoyed it. Clive Owen, Maggie Smith and Emily Watson stood out (Ryan Phillippe's character was reasonably interesting, but Phillippe just isn't that great of an actor); everyone else pretty much blended together. Even the usually excellent Derek Jacobi was wasted in an insignificant role. **