I saw Gosford Park in theaters way back in April 2002, after it was nominated for a slew of Academy Awards a month earlier. Naturally, I was looking forward for some good social satire in the shape of the always reliable "clash of the classes" theme. Robert Altman had the right pedigree as a director, and I actually liked some of his previous works such as The Player and Dr. T and the Women, so there was some cause for interest there. Also, this was promoted as a story of a classic old Hollywood murder mystery, another motivation to go see it. Boy was I wrong.
I can't even start to explain how many things went wrong for me upon watching this train-wreck of a film. For starters, the film was way too talky - not that its bad, but in this case, the endless discussions never actually reached a point. Also, it was very hard to relate to the belated ensemble cast, given the fact they were mostly made up of actors portraying pretentious and extremely dull English snobs, who lead a decadent and obsolete way of life. The movie didn't make me care for any of the characters, want to learn more about them and what motivates them, or give any further attention to their boring tea parties, hunting trips or twisted relations with their butlers and maids.
At one point of the film I just began looking at my wrist watch, trying as hard as I can not to fall asleep, waiting for the promised murder mystery to occur so there would be some sort of force of interest to push the plot forward. After all, there is a certain degree of patience one can bare when staring helplessly at yawn-inducing characters talking about ever so boring issues. I felt as though the film was just going on and on with no real plot or point to look forward to at the end of the tunnel. When the foul felony finally took place, I was apathetic towards whatever was happening, that I couldn't care less. It was THAT bad.
Thankfully, I gave Altman another chance and really enjoyed A Prairie Home Companion, his final work before passing away. However, that still doesn't erase the fact that Gosford Park is one of the slowest, pointless, dullest, unsatisfying experiences I've had at the cinema. I'm usually into dramas, and I have an incredibly low bar of entertainment even the most overused clichés in films tend to amuse me the slightest bit. Alas, Gosford park was just a step too far, even for my relatively low standards; as this now sits as one of the worst films I've seen of this decade to date.
I gave it a 1/10.
I can't even start to explain how many things went wrong for me upon watching this train-wreck of a film. For starters, the film was way too talky - not that its bad, but in this case, the endless discussions never actually reached a point. Also, it was very hard to relate to the belated ensemble cast, given the fact they were mostly made up of actors portraying pretentious and extremely dull English snobs, who lead a decadent and obsolete way of life. The movie didn't make me care for any of the characters, want to learn more about them and what motivates them, or give any further attention to their boring tea parties, hunting trips or twisted relations with their butlers and maids.
At one point of the film I just began looking at my wrist watch, trying as hard as I can not to fall asleep, waiting for the promised murder mystery to occur so there would be some sort of force of interest to push the plot forward. After all, there is a certain degree of patience one can bare when staring helplessly at yawn-inducing characters talking about ever so boring issues. I felt as though the film was just going on and on with no real plot or point to look forward to at the end of the tunnel. When the foul felony finally took place, I was apathetic towards whatever was happening, that I couldn't care less. It was THAT bad.
Thankfully, I gave Altman another chance and really enjoyed A Prairie Home Companion, his final work before passing away. However, that still doesn't erase the fact that Gosford Park is one of the slowest, pointless, dullest, unsatisfying experiences I've had at the cinema. I'm usually into dramas, and I have an incredibly low bar of entertainment even the most overused clichés in films tend to amuse me the slightest bit. Alas, Gosford park was just a step too far, even for my relatively low standards; as this now sits as one of the worst films I've seen of this decade to date.
I gave it a 1/10.