Critics. Who are these people? What do they know that I don't? If you're like me, you'll be asking yourself these and other questions as you watch "Gosford Park". Take my advice, this is another one of those movies that "educated" movie critics fawn over, but the vast majority of everyday viewers struggle to finish. Note that none of us at PopcornPicks call ourselves "critics". We're "reviewers", and there is a big difference between the two.
Oh yeah, about that reviewÉyou've undoubtedly heard of the term "Who-dunnit"? Well, I call this a "Who-cares-who-dunnit". There were far too many characters, details, and subplots for even the intense movie watcher to keep straight, so solving the eventual mystery was pointless. The only way would've been to give each character more time to develop, which would mean lengthening the entire movie (did I just say that?). And these mysteries always seem to be set in a mansion with British nobility. This is odd because as a whole, British folks are generally not all that mysterious, just stuffy, pretentious, and good at making mundane products sound sophisticated in commercials. Nor are they very interesting either, though some Brits are pretty funny from time to time (Hugh Grant, John Cleese, Benny Hill, etc.). Unfortunately none of these talented actors are in this movie. But I did find myself laughing out loud at some of the antics of the multitude of valets and servants which scatter about during the movie. I'd say that those were the only times that I was actually entertained during "Gosford Park".
From a purely critical standpoint, the acting in this movie was superb, the direction was precise, and the set looked absolutely authentic. But overall, the subplots were boring, the characters were uninteresting, and by the time someone was murdered, I really didn't care about the mystery. I just wanted the movie to end.
Those of you that always agree with the mainstream critics will most likely applaud this movie. But, the rest of us will just regret not seeing "Orange County" instead. |
