Gosford Park....

[fajrdrako]

I'd been wanting to see Gosford Park ever since it came out. Finally got to see it tonight.

Good plot. It felt like a new version of Upstairs, Downstairs, but done with less humour.

But not riveting. I didn't really feel much for most of the characters; Parks and Mary were good, but disappointing in the end. I kept wanting the story to latch onto a theme and stay there, but there were too many characters.... I know, the whole point of the movie was that it wasn't romantic fluff or melodrama. The most moving moments were the maid's outburst at the dinner table, and the scene where the sisters, who had been feuding, wept in each other's arms over their lost children.

I really don't like Kirsten Scott Thomas, which is a pity. On the other hand: I don't usually like Maggie Smith, and here, I thought she was terrific.

Comments

[moonchildetoo.livejournal.com]

I saw this in the theater when it came out - looked forward to it eagerly - and was generally disappointed. I adore Maggie Smith, and I felt as if she could have been better used than she was here. Also felt Derek Jacobi was wasted. I had not liked Michael Gambon until I saw this film, but he did such a nice job that I started becoming more fond, and then when I saw him in "Almost Strangers" on BBCA (which won him a BAFTA as Best Actor), I became a fan and now I like him a lot and am pleased we'll see him as Dumbledore.

Tom Hollander, who played Anthony, costarred with Sam West in Cambridge Spies as Guy Burgess, and he was absolutely brilliant - he stole the entire series. He was also in one of my all-time favorite films, Bedrooms and Hallways.

At the time I saw the film, Jeremy Northam was the stand-out for me - I loved him. I thought Ryan Phillipe was quite good too. Am a long-time fan of Helen Mirren and appreciate most things she does. And of course, last but not least, a tip of the derby to Richard E. Grant, who was the acerbic footman George - and the villain Stapleton in my favorite slashy version of Hound of the Baskervilles.

On the whole, though, the film largely left me wanting as far as a cohesive story which drew me in...it didn't do so. Wonderful actors in potential interesting roles, just kind of wandering through the film because Altman didn't now what the heck he wanted to do with them. Too bad!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Derek Jacobi was wasted

I don't even like Derek Jacobi, and I thought so too.

Michael Gambon is Dumbledore? Hmm. Good choice, I think.

I remember Tom Hollander from "Bedroom and Hallways" - he was great.

Yes, Jeremy Northam was wonderful. I wish we'd had more of a look into his head. Though we didn't really get much into anyone's head.

I don't like Richard E. Grant but he was - striking.

Cohesive story? Yeah.... it did seem sort of inchoate. We got all the pieces of the puzzle without being told there was a puzzle for a long time, so it didn't have much of a sense of resolution or coming together.